Let It Go, Let Him Go
by alphariuslau
Summary: Kitty loves Bobby, but Rogue owns his heart. When a dangerous mutant who can enter people's dreams and distort reality and imagination is found, Kitty must make tough choices to distinguish the two. Will she move on, continue loving Bobby... or find new love? (post X3) Main char: Kitty/Shadowcat, OC, Iceman/Bobby, Rogue. UPDATE: Rating changed to T, no longer M
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Just a little disclaimer before I start. The first chapter of this story isn't that great and please do not be too turned off by it. I promise that it'll look better as the story progresses andI'll try not to jump days too much like the first and second chapters too much. Also I do not own the X-men franchise or its characters, all of which belongs to its rightful creators.**

**Chap 1**

Katherine Anne Pryde heaved a sigh of exhaustion as she slumped down to the ground, back against a burnt-out car. Part of her heart was filled with anguish, pain for the losses of three endearing professors and for Logan's broken heart. Left with no alternative, Logan had been forced to kill Jean, the very woman he loved to save the people on Alcatraz Island. The other was part relief and numbness. They had done it, and they had survived, including the man she loved, Bobby Drake. The man she loved but would never love her back.

At that thought, a pang of sadness sliced its way through her heart and her eyes fell on the exhausted but equally handsome man as he shambled his way across to her. Crashing onto the ground beside her, his blue eyes dazzled her as they stared at each other. Bobby never failed to melt her heart with those piercing blue eyes of his that would simply take her breath away. Bobby smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, bringing her head into his chest and loving embrace. Kitty 's breath caught in her throat and she didn't resist, snuggling up to him. There was a little guilt at the thought of Rogue, Bobby's girlfriend. She didn't hate Rogue. They were good friends and she was happy for them, yet a part of her was in pain at the sacrifice she had to make for their happiness. But Rogue was not here, having left the school to join the throngs of mutants lining up for the Worthington Labs cure. This was the only chance she would get to spend time with Bobby like this, in his arms as though he were hers.

_Just for a few more nights like this Rogue, please. I'm sorry_, thought Kitty as she relaxed in his embrace and drifted off to sleep.

_**Two weeks later**_

Kitty walked through the halls on towards her next class on the other wing of the school. Life had begun again at the school with Storm taking over Professor Xavier as the head of the school and students had resumed their studies. Nothing would ever be the same for Kitty Pryde, Professor Xavier had been the one to bring her here, the one to mentor and teach her. Pain wracked her heart as she strode on, the passing figures of students becoming nothing but a blur and time began to lose meaning…..until she slammed into a solid surface.

Looking up, she found herself staring at Bobby Drake, who gave her a disapproving look.

" He may be gone Kitty, but the rest of us are still here. You're not the only one feeling like this but you're not alone." reprimanded Bobby.

Kitty gave a slight smile and nodded her head. Bobby could always tell what she was thinking or how she was feeling, all except her love for him. Kitty hugged him which he reciprocated as they stood there.

Kitty: "Thank you."

Kitty gave him a last smile and left for her class.

_**Three hours later**_

Kitty left her last class for the day and headed down the hallway back to the dorm rooms. Her homework could wait, she wanted to spend some of the limited time she had left with Bobby. Rogue would come back soon, she knew that. Only Bobby could be such an idiot to think she wouldn't. As she stepped through the door, her already broken heart shattered more into millions of pieces, adding to the millions of pieces that were already there. Right in front of her were Bobby and Rouge passionately making out, no longer barred by Rogue's life-draining powers negated by the cure. Kitty stumbled silently out the door unnoticed and phased through the door to her room with tears in her eyes. Rogue had returned and with that, any chance of spending more time with Bobby.

_Why did she come back today? Couldn't she wait a few more days? _thought Kitty as she slammed onto her bed and curled up into a ball. As soon as the resentful thoughts of Rogue's return and status as Bobby's girlfriend came, she crushed them and calmed herself down, though the pain remained.

Of course she came back, she left for Bobby, she would return for him. As much as she loved Bobby, she loved Rogue as a friend too and she didn't want to hurt her. Bobby was everything to Rogue as much as he was everything to Kitty. She wouldn't destroy her friend's heart with her selfishness. She already made the conscious decision to leave them alone, even if it meant she would never be happy again. Yet, she could not quench the pain that stabbed her heart. She couldn't stop loving Bobby no matter how hard she tried.

Kitty would continue to love Bobby no matter how painful it was, because he was everything to her. With that thought that broke her heart many times before, Kitty sobbed and cried silently herself to sleep, her consciousness slipping from this world until it reached one of her own making, where she could live out a lie that she wanted so badly to be true, but would never exist.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kitty awoke out of her deep slumber to a flash of light from her room window. Kitty sighed as the last vestiges of the dream faded away and brought her back to reality. She had been dreaming the same dream again. It was a wonderful relationship, no Rogue in between, and spending time together in class or the nearby lake. If only that dream were true, but Kitty knew that was all it was, a dream.

She got up and shambled her way to the bathroom and brushed her teeth before stepping out of her clothing and taking a shower. As the water ran over her lithe body, Kitty closed her eyes and let herself relax to box up her emotions. Dried tears stuck to the skin of her face re-liquefied themselves and streamed down her face off onto the floor, mimicking her crying episode the previous night. Once she was done, she changed and phased through her door before locking it and walked down the hallway to the pantry area.

Peter was already in the pantry munching on a sandwich that looked ridiculously small for him and Kitty laughed at the thought. Peter caught her and gave her a quizzical look, unaware of what she found so amusing.

Kitty: "Wow. I was wondering when you were going to start dieting. Its about time you realized how fat you are."

Peter's face scrunched up before grinning at the comment, making Kitty laugh even harder.

Peter: "Speak for yourself."

Kitty just continued laughing before leaving with a bowl of cereal in her hand and left the pantry for the common room. Settling herself into a single-seat couch, she started to munch on her cereal as she looked around the room…..until her eyes caught Bobby and Rogue affectionately feeding one another. A sharp pain ripped her heart at the sight and tears threatened to spill out once again. Kitty breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, willing herself to regain control of her emotions. She wouldn't cry, and she wouldn't allow herself to destroy their relationship, no matter the cost. Whatever progress she made went down the drain, for when she opened her eyes, Bobby leaned in to give Rogue a kiss.

A single tear managed to escape her eyelid and she feared that others would see her, until a huge black form blocked her view entirely and thus shielded her from prying eyes.

"You know you don't have to carry on like this", Peter said softly as he stared at her sympathetically.

Peter was one of the few who knew her secret, and had been sworn to secrecy never to tell anyone about it. Peter was a great friend, always there when she needed a shoulder to lean or even cry on. Quiet as he was, few knew his true personality and viewed him as a typical jock, a far cry from his quiet and timid self. But Kitty knew.

Kitty rubbed her eyes as a lump filled her throat, preventing her from saying anything for a few more seconds until she suppressed it.

Kitty: "I have to…. for their sake."

"You could always tell him, he would understand and so will Rogue. We can't help who we fall in love with you know", replied Peter.

"You know I can't do that Peter. Bobby would be crushed to know that I love him and that he can't love me back. I'll end up destroying their relationship", sighed Kitty.

Peter: "Have you thought that maybe you're thinking too much?"

Kitty didn't answer and Peter didn't push any further, knowing that she would never change her mind about that particular point. He simply wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

The pair sat there silently until most of the students had left, especially the couple…. and continued to sit there in silence.

**Meanwhile on Muir Island**

Dr Moira Mactaggert ran through her checklist and the vitals of her brain –dead patient on the computer. As her eyes scanned the checklist, her eyes fell upon the name section of the patient.

_P. Xavier _

The twin brother of the recently deceased Charles Xavier, close confidant, and friend. The family line of the Xavier's was all but vanquished. A sigh of Dr Mactaggert revealed the pain at the thought, and she continued her work.

Unbeknownst to her, her supposedly brain –dead patient was no longer a vegetable.

"Hello", called out a voice.

Dr Mactaggert turned towards the sound of the voice, her patient. She stared at him incredulously as he looked at her. He was awake! But that was impossible! Then her mind replayed the voice that called out to her.

_It couldn't be!_

"Charles?!", exclaimed Dr Mactaggert softly.

**A few hours later**

Kitty closed the textbook she had been studying and exhaled deeply. It was so good to cry like that in Peter's arms and release her frustrations to him. She felt better after that and had thanked him before returning to her room to study. Bobby still filled her mind though, and she decided to take a run to continue venting her frustrations. Phasing through the door once she had changed, Kitty got out onto the track and started her laps. The rush of the air whipping past her face as she ran her laps felt great and she pushed herself harder.

"Looking good there Kitty.", called out a voice from behind her.

She turned her face to find Bobby Drake running just behind her and to her right, his piercing blue eyes drilling hers and his gigawatt smile flashing its way toward her. Kitty smiled but turned away to hide her blushing face and continued running on, Bobby keeping a small distance between them.

An hour later after running, the two sat down by the view stands and gulped down from their bottles, sweat glistening off their exposed skin.

" You're running really hard today", commented Bobby.

Kitty: "Just training."

Bobby looked at her and Kitty's heart jumped as the two stared at one another, one person seemingly lost in the other's eyes.

"You feeling better recently?", asked Bobby.

Kitty woke herself from her stupor and recomposed herself to answer him.

Kitty: "Yeah. I'm fine thanks."

Bobby:" That's good to hear, especially after yesterday."

Kitty smiled at the memory of their encounter yesterday and laughed at him. Bobby was the man who could lift her above the clouds and also the one who would slam her back down to the earth.

"You should smile more often, it suits you.", commented Bobby.

Kitty smiled and blushed at that and hit him hard on the shoulder.

"Are you saying that I'm grouchy?", asked Kitty with a mock threatening glare.

Bobby looked up at the sky, making him look lost in thought for a brief moment then answered her.

Bobby: "Yes."

That earned him another smack and he laughed as Kitty chased her around the track. Kitty ran as fast as she could after him, hitting him whenever her short arms got in range. Bobby Drake was the man who more than not brought her down to the pits of despair, but today he was definitely bringing her above the clouds.

**6 days later**

Ororo Munroe or Storm as she was commonly known, sighed as rubbed her temples and supported her head with a hand on the desk as she stared at a piece of paperwork, just one piece among the three giant stacks of paper on her table. Ever since Professor Xavier's death, she had become the de facto head of the institute and the work was just titanic in proportions. The paperwork she had here was considered part of 'just another day at the office'!

As if that weren't enough, she was still a professor and the team leader of the X-men. If she thought her life was stressful before, she didn't think so anymore. Her previous life had been way easier than this. How did the professor manage all of this at once?!

From planning education timetables to answering countless phone calls, to planning X-men training and contingencies to handling paperwork. She had to do everything herself.

Just then the phone on Professor Xav…..HER desk rang. Storm sighed and picked it up.

Storm:" Hello?...yes Dr Mactaggert. Its good to hear from you again. Well what is it?"

What she said next had Storm's eyes popping from her eye sockets.

**4 days later**

The professor was alive! Kitty couldn't believe it! The man who had brought her here to a place where she could be herself. The man who taught her everything she knew including controlling her powers and accepting herself was alive! Storm broke the news yesterday, resulting in overjoyed cheering from the faculty.

Kitty rushed down to the field where a great many students and the X-men had gathered. Standing beside Bobby, Kitty anxiously waited for the helicopter that would bring Professor Xavier back home. The steady whump of the rotors caught her attention and there it was, coming in on an approach pattern.

As the helicopter landed and the engines started to whine in response to the power cut, the bay door opened and Professor Xavier rolled out on a wheelchair. The crowd cheered as he did so and the x-men ran to each give him a hug with tears in their eyes. Storm was the most emotional of all, being with him the longest.

Xavier:" Students and teachers of St. Xavier's! It is good to see you all again!"

Yes. It was good to see him again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chap 3**

Soon after a private session with Storm to appraise him of the situation at the school, Professor Xavier called a meeting for the X-men regarding the defence of the school, growing public sentiment against mutants and threats.

Professor Xavier: "Magneto's assault on Alcatraz has raised the profile of mutants everywhere and his actions have divided the community effectively over what and how to deal with us. "

Professor Xavier stopped for a moment to let the others in the room let the gravity of the situation infiltrate their thoughts.

"While we have made progress in damage control and presenting a peaceful image, there are still many humans who are not accepting of us and many even in government circles have called for protective measures ranging from incarceration in concentration camps to keep us at a safe distance and to keep the 'taint' from further infecting the human reproduction cycle. There have even been calls for genocide and given that government officials are voicing such measures, we must be careful.", said the professor.

"Even after all that we've done for them? I mean….its not like every mutant went on a rampage", inquired Bobby.

Storm:" Its about perception. There were lots of mutants in the Brotherhood and they were on tv. Those images have played on their fear and thus their perception."

Kitty:" Then what should we do?"

"What we always do. We continue to push peacefully for mutant rights and acceptance. Show them that they have nothing to fear and continue our education here at the school" answered Xavier.

Rogue:" There are still many extremist groups on both sides that want us gone, we're not exactly safe right now."

A smile formed on Professor Xavier's lips, the kind that formed meant to soothe one's fears, but still acknowledge a problem.

"Well, we'll just have to stop them, won't we?", said the professor in a sing-song voice.

**Unknown Facility**

While the occupants of the Xavier institute were filled with joy and anticipation of a new future, the atmosphere somewhere far off underground was moody. Doctors, nurses and scientists walked through the hallways and tended to their duties with an enthusiasm so dull that monotonous could not even begin to describe their sloppiness.

Hundreds of medical personnel attend to their patients in the deep bowels of the facility. No one but the highest levels of military personnel know about the underground research hospital or the patients within, all of whom do not exist in the government citizen records. The place is so secretive that the researchers and the guards within live their entire lives inside, never to see the world above.

Yet even further below the main levels of the facility, an entire level exists for one purpose and more curiously caters to a single patient. This patient's existence is the greatest secret of the facility and fills the minds of everyone who knows him with great terror. Who wouldn't be afraid of a single person possessing such immense power, that he can enter the minds of others and distort the line between reality and dreams?

For that reason, he is always sedated and chained to a metal slab in isolation. Any training is sleep-indoctrinated and practiced via sedation-aided sleepwalk. The people, or humans as they like to distinguish themselves from the mutant they tend to, detest and despise him. The only reason he is alive is because the top brass seeks to harness his abilities as a weapon. A weapon to turn the tide against his own kind. They have come too far to stop now, for all the resources and sacrifices of those who gave up their lives to capturing him would be in vain.

A female doctor walks right up to the control right beside the slab and activates the slab's motors. The boy rises to an upright position with the slab as though he were standing on his feet, head hanging limply downwards. The drugs are keeping him sedated and dormant, but it is time for the next shot before he can fully awaken and render every defense this facility or even the country has to stop him. The doctor grabs a needle and a large vial of colourless liquid that looks deceptively as harmless as water. Looking into the vial, she sees….. nothing. Someone on the previous shift forgot to refill the damn vial. With an irritated huff, she goes to the left side of the isolation room and opens the cupboard, grabbing a big bottle of the liquid she needs and refilling the vial.

The needle comes next, drawing a specific amount of the drug with the capability to kill an elephant, but will do nothing more than put the monstrosity on the steel slab to sleep. Stepping confidently up to him in the knowledge that she is safe from his mental predations, she pushes his neck to the side roughly in disdain, and jabs the needle into his neck to deliver the dosage. The deed done, she steps away from him and lithely steps towards a monitor showing his vitals.

Except that the monitor and the table it has been placed on isn't there. Her mind starts to question her memory of the monitor's location but can't find any fault with it. A sudden chill erupts in her spine and she spins around. Everything is there as it should be, but something is wrong, she can sense it. She scans the room again….. _and sees the problem_.

The bottle she took to refill the vial isn't the bottle she thought she took…._its a mineral water bottle_. Horror spreads itself across her face as she realized what has happened. The boy isn't asleep, he's wide awake…..and playing with her perceptions of reality. This is bad, he can do worse. He could just put her to sleep without her knowing and be thrown into a dream state where he can mentally torture and kill her at his preference. And when she says kill her, she means it literally. You die in the dream… _you die for real_.

She sprints for the door and the security button on a control panel, to find that they have disappeared. There is nothing where the entire part of the room, including the door she just came from is. _Only blackness faces he_r.

That is when she realizes that things have turned for the worst, nothing she did ever truly happened. She is asleep, and she is now in a dream of the freak's making or born of his intrusion into her mind. She guesses it's the former and that everyone like her is in the dream and are unwittingly going about their duties….._in their dreams_. She turns back to the boy and discovers he is no longer chained to the slab. The slab is _empty_.

Panicking, she scans the room and sees the giant steel cupboard she took the mineral bottle from, on the _right side of the room_. It somehow dominates her vision and thinking, making her stare helplessly at it.

The cupboard doors open, and there he is…._the freak…..the monster_.

He steps out of it, head drooping low with his face covered by his long hair in imitation of the ghost from a popular horror movie. The girl from the movie called The Grudge never scared her, but as she stared at this _thing mimicking it_, terror fills her to the very bone.

The pale-skinned boy, the freak that they thought they had under control slowly lifts its head to stare at her. A viscous black liquid oozes down from the middle of his eyes, or rather where there should have been eyes. Where two completely black pupils would normally have dominated his eye sockets, there is nothing but black vacant spaces.

The boy looks straight into her eyes with an emotionless face, and then his lips slowly curve into smile so sadistic she is completely immobilized by it. As the boy steps closer…..she screams.

Throughout the entire facility, every man and woman, doctor, nurse, scientist or guard lies unconscious on the ground writhing and screaming in pain and horror as they are murdered in their dreams. As the boy delivers the _coup de grace_ to each, their seemingly lifeless bodies' spasm uncontrollably as blood vessels and hearts rupture. Blood explodes out of every crevice it finds, eyes, ears, mouths, nostrils. Within an hour, the floors of the faculties are filled with the blood streaming out of the dead bodies.

At the end of a hallway, an elevator opens and the boy steps out onto the blood-soaked hallway, eyes now present since this is the real world. His head is hung low but if anyone knelt down, they could see that the sadistic smile was gone, replaced by an emotionless face. Contrary to what people may think, he feels just a little satisfaction from killing the people who tortured him and subverted his free will. It was simply revenge, nothing greater like the psychotic serial killers who killed over and over for the thrill of it. Those smiles he gave before killing the hospital personnel were simply to strike terror in his victims, a psychological tactic.

The boy opens a room with a keycard from a dead guard by the door, and enters. Minutes later, dressed in combat uniform specifically made for his size, he leaves the room carrying equipment and clothing he will need to survive.

He walks out the entrance of the facility, out onto the frosty landscape unopposed and vanishes amidst the blowing storm.

**A/N: Please note that I will be ignoring the official timeline of the X-men movie series. The events leading up to the Days of Future Past after X3 will not happen and Wolverine's seclusion and adventure in Japan will be brought closer to the end of X3 instead of 2013.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chap 4

Kitty Pryde fell back on the bed and lay there expectantly as Bobby Drake clambered on and hovered over her, grinning ever so mischievously. Kitty looked straight into his ice blue eyes and saw a passion that burned within him. Not one made of lust, but love. She smiled at him and he lowered himself to give her a passionate and mind-searing kiss, probing her mouth with his tongue. Kitty moaned and returned his kiss with equal fervor and darted her tongue in an attempt to get hers in his mouth. Both their hands roamed over each other's bodies, Kitty suddenly flipped them over so that she was on top.

Bobby: "Ohhh feisty. I like that!"

"I'm haven't even started being feisty", whispered Kitty into his ear.

With that, Kitty captured his lips once more before the world went white.

Kitty woke up once again from a happy dream into reality and groaned. She really needed to do something about this issue. She swore she was going to go insane if she kept on dreaming and thinking about Bobby all day long. Rogue didn't deserve this and neither did Bobby. But who could she turn to? Piotr would listen but he would only tell her to confess to Bobby and Rogue.

Absolutely out of the question!

Bobby and Rogue had to be kept out of the equation or all hell would break loose. Kitty sighed and closed her eyes to clear her head. Why was it so difficult to let go of him? Memories of the dream began to gain lucidity and force their way into her head.

Kitty screamed. A scream of both anguish and pain, giving voice to her increasing frustration over her unrequited love. Tears flooded from her eyes as they squeezed shut in the effort to empty the air in her lungs and her hands gripped the sheets of the bed tightly. Anybody in the hallway or the adjacent dorm rooms would have heard her cry, but she didn't care. At that point, all she cared was that she released all the pent up emotion building up within her.

She just wished that other than Piotr, there would be someone who would be able to help her. Not that she didn't trust him or that she felt he wasn't helping, but one more person who would listen and understand her would be helpful. Calming herself down, Kitty slid off the bed and got into the shower to start her day. Her wish and answers to her dilemma unanswered.

So she thought. Completely caught up in her emotions, she forgot that there was a very powerful telepath residing within the school.

**Alaska**

In the frosty woods of Alaska, several men in greatcoats fanned out on a search. They are agents of a top secret branch from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, here with one goal: To capture the dreamwalker.

The leader of the search is a Federal agent by the name of Randall Pierce. Like all other agents involved in this search, he is a virulent anti-mutant. The ultimate threat to mankind was not Al-qaeda, It was the mutants. They made terrorists look like protesters and if they were not dealt with soon, the world as they knew it would collapse. The dreamwalker would prevent that, destroy the threat before it spread further. But now the dreamwalker had escaped and so here were they, struggling in the thick snow, searching for one boy amidst a giant province of Alaska.

They had been searching for three hours now and still nothing. Maybe this is just a waste of time, maybe he isn't here at all. A cold chill creeps ups his spine, and he wraps his coat tighter around himself…. Before realizing that its not coming from the winter climate. Agent Randall slowly turns around and there is the boy, staring straight at him, rifle in hand. Training takes over and he whips out his pistol loaded with tranquilizers and fires. The darts head for the boy faster than the eye can follow, but miss.

To his astonishment, he can somehow see the darts as though the world had slowed down. His tranq darts _drift to either side_ of the boy and speed on harmlessly pass the boy. It is then he realizes what has happened. He isn't awake. His unconscious body is probably face flat somewhere in the snow-covered floor of the forest as is everyone else. The boy grins maniacally as though he understands that the man in front of him realizes the circumstances he is in.

They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results, an expression that fits agent Randall's subsequent actions. He continues to fire in the vain hope that one of the darts will strike the boy and put him down. The boy simply lunges at him, eyes suddenly missing from their eye sockets and head growing to the size of a truck with an opened mouth full of giant canine teeth.

Agent Randall screams.

Throughout the forest, the bodies of the sleeping agents spasm uncontrollably as they are killed in their dreams. Blood pours out from every crevice of their head and mouth as blood vessels, arteries and veins rupture. As the last body twitches to a halt, a lone figure lying 1km away on a ridge opens his eyes and sits up. Turning around, the boy looks through the scope of his sniper rifle and scans the area. Satisfied that he has neutralized his pursuers, he reattaches the gun to his backpack and switches it out for his M-16A4 rifle, continuing his journey unopposed.

**Cerebro**

**Below the X-Mansion**

Charles Xavier was in a world of his own, almost shut off from the outside world. Ghostly images of mutants filled the space surrounding him that was Cerebro. The machine pushed his telepathic abilities far above what he was normally capable of doing, giving him the ability to see and communicate with mutants worldwide. The experience never failed to stimulate a sense of nostalgia within him, and always left him yearning for more.

He smiled as he sifted through the minds and images in front of him, trying to find mutants in need of a place to live and study away from the predations of xenophobic people or new recruits for his X-men. Here was a young girl in Tennessee, hiding amongst a sea of humans and hiding her abilities from the rest of the world. There a teenage boy, flamboyantly showing off his rock-like skin to his astounded parents.

There were other….less desirable sights and people he saw. Mutants misusing their powers to commit crimes like theft, burglary and even murder.

He continued sifting through the minds throughout the country, continuing his search for interesting mutants. Finally, he settled his mind on a homeless 17 year old cloaking mutant from Ontario Canada. Young, intelligent and a strong will to survive. The team could use him.

Then, Charles Xavier senses another mutant in Alaska, a presence so strong that the sheer physicality of his mind presses against his own. Charles Xavier smiles and switches his full mental attention to this new mutant. Covertly focusing his mind on this young boy and probing him as was his standard protocol, Charles Xavier let the silent and theoretically mentally invisible tendrils of his mind search for information of this mutant.

To his surprise, the mutant stops in his tracks and his mental conscience stares back at him. A telepath like himself then. Charles smiles and allows a small part of his mind to make himself known to him and establish contact between them. It is only then that he notices the image of the mutant in question which stuns him. The boy is in military arctic gear, his face covered by an impassive and mouthless balaclava which slits barely large enough to reveal his eyes. A giant backpack is slung on his back and a bulletproof vest is barely visible within the winter masking uniform. His arms carry an M-16A4 rifle in a low-ready position, ready to respond to any threat that may arise in this wilderness. An AK-74 rifle is slung down below his backpack, pistol strapped to his waist, an AK-style sniper attached to the right side of his backpack while a western assault rifle derived sniper hangs on the left. Charles Xavier's jaw drops. That boy is carrying more hardware even the most hardcore special forces would find impossible to carry over even short distances and he doesn't even seem to be bothered by it. _Four rifles_! Not to mention all the ammunition on his vest and other survival gear he probably has stashed in his backpack!

This boy is also a physical powerhouse, possibly powerful enough to take on even Piotr unarmed. The mutant tries a game of its own, using its mental powers to access his mind. Charles Xavier allows him to access a small portion of his subconscious to introduce himself, an action which brings about the unexpected.

Suddenly, his body feels cold and Cerebro disappears from sight, replaced by complete _nothingness._ It is then that Charles Xavier still probing his mind, discovers the true nature of the military-styled mutant. He isn't a telepath, he's a dreamwalker. One who can put others to sleep without their knowledge and access their dreams. The room and device known as Cerebro have disappeared because by allowing the mutant access to his subconscious, he gave it the foothold it needed to put him to sleep. This nothingness is a dream.

Then, the black ground right in front of Charles Xavier ripples and the boy, now dressed in a plain hospital gown, rises out of the ground. Charles Xavier knows it is dangerous, the boy is not a true telepath but when the field of play is a dream, he has an advantage. Yet he does not leave, merely shutting off any access to the rest of his subconscious mind. He has to try and communicate with him.

"Hello? Can you hear me?", asks Charles Xavier.

The boy doesn't answer, merely walking closer to him, head facing the ground.

Charles Xavier: "My name is Professor Charles Xavier, I run a school for mutants like you and I. You are a curious mutant, I wish to….."

He never finishes his sentence as the boy reaches him and slams his hands onto the hand rails of his wheelchair, gripping it so tightly it bends and twists out of shape. The boy slowly lifts its head up, to reveal a bizarre mental image. His eye sockets are empty and a black liquid oozes its way out from where his eyes should be. A twisted psychotic smile lights up on the boy's face, sending chills down Charles Xavier's spine. The boy mentally presses something against his mental shield, memories of some sort, but they are trapped in a mental box and are going too fast for Charles to understand.

So he allows the box within his mind and opens the box, which flashes bright white and then the horror starts. Charles Xavier sees the boy training in the facility he escaped from, being molded into the perfect soldier and dreamwalker, he sees him endure punishing training regimens….and being tortured day by day mentally to increase his rage to turn him into a psychotic monster. He sees the day of his escape, how every member of the facility was slowly murdered in their sleep, and the subsequent days where he survived in the wilderness, leaving a trail of dead US Federal and military agents, and the only official living outside the facility who was involved in the project in his wake.

The boy grins as the full import of his nature and deeds impress themselves on his mind and Charles prepares to defend himself mentally against this terrible mutant.

Then, a mental reverberation echoes through the air. A cry of anguish is felt by both Charles Xavier and the boy, causing both to stop and turn to the mental sound coming from above. It is Kitty and to Charles Xavier's horror, the boy smiles at him and goes after the origin of the cry, Kitty Pryde. He chases after him, but he is still in the dream and while his mental powers can level the playing field even in a dream, he is at a distinct disadvantage on the boy's unfamiliar home ground. What's worse is that he's never done anything telepathic in his sleep, making all the more harder for him to turn the tables. The dream walker is using his telepathic mind as a platform to springboard to Kitty, but he can't shut off the connection and force himself awake. The boy may still be able to detect Kitty's psychic resonance even though he is far away and the professor's mind is shut off, which is worse as the loss of connection may result in him losing mental sight of the boy. So, he chases him in his own dream, desperately trying to get him before Kitty is dragged into the dream.

**X-Mansion**

The boy searches the school, tracing the mental presence he felt and traces it….. to a young girl. He smiles back at Charles Xavier who is desperately chasing him and warning him to stay away from her. He doesn't listen. Instead, he delves into her subconscious unnoticed by the non-telepathic mutant and searches her mentally. What he sees surprises and confuses him and he digs deeper to find out more about her. It is then that Charles Xavier catches up and with all his mental power barges straight into Kitty's subconscious and slams it against the boy. Knowing that he doesn't have much time before the telepath overpowers him, the boy disappears from the amalgamation of Charles Xavier and Kitty's subconscious into one dream plane (A/N: plane as in plane of existence, not the aircraft) of existence, thereby releasing both from their dreams and his subconscious control.

Kitty awoke with a start, a short gasp emitting from her mouth. The feeling of steams of water hitting her face startled her and she thrashed around a little in panic. It was then she realized that she had fallen asleep in the shower and she laughed. It was a weird and new experience for her. Whilst asleep, she had actually dreamt that she was showering, contributing to her confusion earlier on.

Finishing up, she dried herself with her towel and changed before phasing through her room door and headed out for lessons. She had gotten no further than the end of the hallway that she found her way blocked by Professor Storm.

Storm: "We need to go to the Professor's office…now."


	5. Chapter 5

Chap 5

**Read this first**

**A/N: This is the first of a double update**

Kitty and Storm burst into Charles Xavier's office, already occupied by the rest of the X-men. Something was very wrong. She looked at the Professor and recoiled in surprise. Charles Xavier was sweating profusely and visibly shaken, something that rarely happened to this calm and composed man. Whatever it was that was bugging him, it was serious.

Kitty:" Professor? Are you ok?"

The Professor looked at her and nodded his head before answering.

Charles: "Yes. Kitty. I'm fine. Thank you."

Piotr: "Professor, what's the emergency?"

The Professor took a deep breath before answering.

Charles: "I have found a mutant using Cerebro. He has the ability to put anyone to sleep and access their subconscious and dreams. From what I've seen, he is an escaped military experiment designed to wipe out mutant-kind and is very heavily armed. He just might prove the most dangerous mutant alive. Even I fell prey earlier on and was caught in my own dream. Using my subconscious, he detected a strong psychic resonance from Kitty and put her to sleep. I managed to get to him as he accessed her subconscious and threw him out."

Everyone looked at Kitty, who took a step back, realizing the ramifications of what he had just said. Her sleeping incident in the shower was caused by this mutant. Immediately, questions raced through her mind. What did he do with her subconscious? What did he see? The Professor, sensing her thoughts moved to calm her down.

Charles: "Kitty, He didn't spend much time in your subconscious before I threw him out. Whatever he read through your subconscious was minimal and he's also not a telepath, so he can't enter your mind the way a telepath does. He can only enter one's subconscious and put them to sleep. Whatever information he gleans from a person comes only from the surface of one's subconscious and any deeper information will have to come through dreams."

Kitty took a deep breath and nodded and caught Piotr shaking his head, knowing the real reason why she was so scared.

Storm: "If he's that dangerous, we have to find him. He could very well do a great deal of harm if he's not regulated."

Charles: "Exactly. That's why we're going after him."

A eerie silence hung in the air until Storm spoke for them all.

Storm: "We? You can't possibly come with us. Its too dangerous."

Charles: "None of you stand a chance without me. This boy can put people to sleep without them even knowing it. You could be walking a road when does that and you would still think you're really walking when you're actually face-flat on the ground, continuing to walk in your dream. None of your powers here are telepathic, which means in a dream, none of you have your powers. Even if you did, they would probably be useless since he's the one in control of the dream, be it one of his own or your own making. Jean is gone, so I am the only one who can protect all of you and stand up to him."

The X-men shifted uncomfortably. If they did engage the mutant, they would have to do it on his terms and would almost have no way of fighting back. Charles didn't want to discourage them but he knew he had to warn them of the risks.

Charles: "Remember that he is very heavily armed with at least four to five guns, and that he has special forces training. Even if we engage him in reality, he still has the upper hand. Be aware of your thoughts and watch out for any sign that you're in a dream. Try to be passive and talk to him, it may stall time and if all goes well, he will accept a place here in the mansion."

Piotr: "We'll get him professor. A dream is just a dream professor. We'll get up and continue hunting him if we fall."

"I saw him kill government agents in their sleep Piotr, and they died in real life. None of them knew they were in a dream until it was too late", replied Charles as he shook his head in disapproval.

What he said next sent chills down everyone's spines.

Charles:" If you die in the dream….. you die for real."

**Somewhere in Alaska**

A young woman stood motionless in the forest, blocking out any distraction from around her as she concentrated on her task. Using her mutant abilities, the girl reached out with her mind until she found what she was looking for. She opened her eyes to find an old gray-haired man in front of her, studying her intently. The man in front of her was old, but his hard-faced nature and constant deep-set expression commanded authority.

"Well? Did you find him?", asked the man impatiently.

The woman ran a hand through her Mohawk-styled hair as she replied.

Woman: "Yeah. I got him."

The man smiled and turned to follow her as they picked up the trail.

**X-Mansion**

**Hangar Bay**

The X-men had geared up and were making final preparations for their mission flight. They would land in Alaska, close to the last known position of the mutant, or dreamwalker as they now called him. Once they had landed, they would track him down and bring him back to the mansion, where he would learn to lead a peaceful and harmless civilian life.

Kitty strapped on her gloves and grabbed her winter equipment that she would wear once they hit the ground in Alaska. This would be one of their toughest missions yet. Even taking on the Brotherhood on Alacatraz was not an equal task to the one they now faced. At least they could fight back. Once stranded in a dream state, they were almost at the complete mercy of the dreamwalker.

She turned around from the equipment table and headed to the jet, and arrived at a bad timing. There on the hangar tarmac was Bobby and Rogue, saying their goodbyes to one another and sharing one last kiss. A painful knot twisted in Kitty's gut at the sight and she hurried by quickly, head hung low to avoid any eye contact.

Strapping herself in, she waited as the others finally entered the jet and took their places, the Professor being helped off his wheelchair into one of the seats by Storm. Bobby strapped himself in right beside Kitty and Kitty glanced slightly at the man she loved but would never have. She was happy for him, she really was. But she wanted to be happy too and that was what complicated the situation.

Just then, Storm started up the engines and they were up. Not wanting to feel more pain, Kitty turned away and closed her eyes, allowing herself to drift to sleep.

**Alaska **

High up on a ridge, a young boy dressed completely in white from his head and face down to his legs lay down with his backpack just behind dreamwalker looked through the scope of his rifle at the lightly forested plains below him. Several groups of mutants roamed the area, intent on searching for something. The dream walker already knew what it was, him. It was obvious, seeing them look at the ground or vegetation uncovered by snow for footprints or any other sign that someone had passed this way. Nobody came through these areas except hikers, who were few and far between. He also knew that they had a telepath with them, not powerful but strong enough to overpower him if they stood toe to toe. He had detected her intrusion into his mind and had quickly dimmed his subconscious resonance to make it harder for her to track him. That hadn't worked so he risked it and inundated 3 entire kilometers with his psychic subconscious resonance. Any telepath would simply see through that and know he was in the centre of the inundated area, so he created ripples in his subconscious mind to randomize his location. If the telepath looked, she would find him at one spot for a few seconds before he switched to another location. This frustrated the telepath as his mind was anywhere and everywhere.

While that wouldn't throw them off his tail, it would slow them down. It was hard for him. He didn't even know where to go. Ever since his escape, he had simply been mindlessly travelling through unpopulated areas to avoid detection.

They would have to be dealt with soon enough, every hour they were gaining some distance. The boy shouldered his rifle, grabbed his backpack and crawled off the ridge until he was out of sight before continuing his journey.

**1 hour later**

**X-jet**

"Wake up everyone, we're here", Storm's voice came loudly enough to get everyone's attention. Kitty woke with a start and craned her head to look out the front viewports. Storm was already landing. As the plane came level with the ground, a slight thump signaled their successful landing and everyone unbuckled their seat belts, Bobby and Piotr helping the Professor into a specially modified wheelchair for harsh terrain. Instead of wheels, it came with treads and was rarely used as the Professor usually stayed back at the mansion. The X-men descended the rear ramp and scanned the area for trouble.

Charles: "The brotherhood is here. I sensed them on the flight in and the boy is flooding a 3 kilometer radius with his subconscious resonance to confuse them. Looks like Magneto knows about him too. We have to get to him before he does."

"Great. Just what we need. As if this wasn't hard enough", whispered Kitty.

The Professor looked at her and gave her and amused smile. Kitty looked down at the ground flustered that she had forgotten the Professor's telepathic abilities. The group pushed on through the snow, having parked a distance off to the side of the Brotherhood's search area to prevent their jet from being stolen.

Kitty trudged through the snow covered woods beside Bobby, scanning the area for threats. They had better find the dreamwalker soon. They were already biting off more than they could chew. All around, the X-men came to the same conclusion. They would find that things were about to get a whole lot worse.

**3 kilometers away**

The boy had seen the jet earlier, and knew that he had to up the ante much more. The wheelchair-bound telepath was in it. Whether the telepath was in league with his current pursuers was unknown, but it didn't matter. With him in the game, they would have to be dealt with, his little trick he had been using was useless against a telepath of such immense power. The boy looked ahead and saw a ridge even higher than the one he previously was on. Looking back towards the almost forested hills behind him, the boy decided that it was time.

The boy raced up to the top and set his pack down a distance behind him before taking position on the ridge with his AR-styled sniper rifle, and waited.

Kitty and Bobby had ranged out a little ahead of the others as the vanguard force. With the Brotherhood around, they had to know what was ahead of them and if possible, avoid them. Brushing aside the thick foliage that stood out the snow, Kitty and Bobby pressed on, hugging their coats close to their bodies to insulate themselves from the harsh winter of Alaska.

"I hope this kid comes quietly with us", said Bobby apprehensively.

Kitty: "Yeah. I can't help but think that despite all that he's done, we really need to help him. Think about it. He was subjected to a top secret military program that tortured him mentally and chained him to their will for years. Who knows how badly damaged he is."

Bobby nodded as they broke out of the forest and found themselves at the end of a cliff. Looks like they would have to find another way forward.

Bobby started to turn when a sudden voice came into his mind.

_Bobby! Watch it! The Brotherhood is coming your way!_

No sooner had the Professor's warning come that Magneto, Pyro and a few other mutants led by a woman with Mohawk hair appeared to their left out of another section of the woods.

Pyro: "Well well. If it isn't pretty boy."

Bobby and Kitty readied themselves for combat when they were suddenly lifted a little off the ground by the woman.

Kitty: "Damn. A telepath."

_Hang on. We're coming_

The Professor's voice echoed in her head as Magneto stepped closer to her.

Magneto: "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have work to do. You'll just have to be disposed of."

Magneto turned to the woman who stepped closer to Kitty with a grin on her face. Both Bobby and Kitty struggled but were unable to break free from her control.

"Leave her alone!", shouted Bobby.

Pyro :"Awww What happened to Rogue? Dumped her for a little teenage girl already?"

As the woman brought herself face to face with Kitty, she laughed and grabbed her throat. Kitty closed her eyes as she waited for it. So this was it.

**1.2km away**

**Ridgeline**

**Alaska**

The boy eased himself as he observed the situation, target reticule centred a distance away from the telepath's head to account for the light wind. The newcomers had done him a favour, bringing her attention away from him and luring her into the open, he would return them the favour. That man with the strange helmet was a mystery to him. No resonance from him and where his presence should have been, there was nothing but emptiness which made entering his subconscious impossible. Odd. He would deal with him too but another mutant was blocking the shot. Taking a deep breath, the boy squeezed the trigger.

**Back on the cliff**

Kitty closed her eyes and waited to die, silently whispering goodbye to her parents and Bobby, whom she could not turn her head to see. Then, something hot and wet slapped her face and Kitty opened her eyes to find herself on her butt. The woman fell to the side with a hole through the side of her head and as Kitty wiped her face instinctively, she found blood on her hands. Everyone stood there shocked as the report of a gunshot echoed in the air. Before anyone had truly figured out what had happened, another Brotherhood mutant who had turned towards the sound of the gunshot was knocked flat as something impacted against his chest and burst out through the other side in a shower of blood.

"Sniper!", shouted one of the Brotherhood mutants.

Everyone broke and scrambled towards the nearest cover, hoping that they weren't next.

Back on the ridge, the boy shifted his aim to rest on the man with the helmet. A round tore through the air from the boy's position, and travelled faster than the eye could follow to the cliff. At that range, there were significant adjustments to make for wind compensation but the boy did it perfectly. A masterpiece in the science of long range shooting was on its way to destiny. It headed straight and true to its intended target….. and stopped in mid-air.

The boy watched in shock as the bullet he fired at the helmeted man stopped dead in the air as if time had stopped and dropped to the ground. This man could control metal and was immune to his powers. He was helpless against him. The boy switched targets, picking off more mutants that he could find before finally deciding that it was time, and displaced.

Back in the forest at the edge of the cliff, Bobby crawled towards Kitty and grabbed by the shoulders. Kitty was still a little bit in shock and he brought her face level with is when he noticed the blood on her dace.

Bobby: "Kitty. Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

Kitty shook herself from her stupor and shook her head before replying.

Kitty: "I'm fine. Its her's, not mine."

Bobby nodded and pointed back to where X-men were. They had heard the gunfire and had hit the ground except for Piotr, who transformed into his metallic form to protect the Professor. Together they crawled back to the relative safety of the inner woods.

Storm: "Are you two ok? Kitty you've got blood on your face."

Kitty: "We're fine. The blood isn't mine."

Storm:" We'll stay here for a while….. he's probably watching…."

"No. He's gone. Its safe to stand. We'll go back to the jet and land close enough to catch him faster on foot", interrupted the Professor.

The X-men recovered and dusting the snow from their coats, returned to the jet.

Meanwhile, Magneto travelled through the brush with seven more of his henchmen in a bid to get to the boy. With his telepath now gone, he had to rely on tracks alone to find him, if he even found them at all. The boy could easily have created a false set of tracks and then run off in the opposite direction. All this grief had better be worth it.

Magneto gave a frustrated huff and continued on.


	6. Chapter 6

Chap 6

**Read this first**

**A/N: This is the 2****nd**** part of a double update, so read the previous chapter first**

**Alaska**

The boy ran hard, harder than he usually did to keep some distance between him and his pursuers. He didn't have time to create false tracks and already several dead ends on these hills had forced him to make detours, costing him valuable time. The jet was landing close by, about 3 kilometers off with the other faction of pursuers about equal distance behind him. Looks like he would have to take them all after all. Setting himself in a defensible position, the boy switched out his sniper rifle for his AKM assault rifle and waited.

**3km away**

The minute the jet touched down, the X –men charged down the ramp and on towards the exact location of the boy, pinpointed by the Professor. Piotr, being the fittest and strongest, charged on 3 meters ahead of the rest to draw gunfire away from the rest. True enough, the chatter of fully automatic fire rang out as sparks flew off Piotr's metallic body. The boy, realizing that he had compromised his location and that the juggernaught in front of him couldn't be killed with gunfire, took off in flight.

The X-men continued the chase, but somehow the boy seemed to be getting farther away even with that gigantic backpack! That kid was bolting past trees, rocks and jumping from small heights with relative ease where they were struggling to keep up. It wouldn't last. Exhaustion from forced marches over the previous days were already taking their toll on his strength and he started to slow down a little, allowing the X-men to gain on him. Still, the X-men could only stay on him through the slight glimpses of the boy as he darted past the trees and difficult terrain with relative ease. As the kid crested a ridge and continued running on the plain, the X-men charged up and over the ridge 3 minutes behind at full speed….. to find themselves in an eerily silent city.

The Professor sighed and closed his eyes as he realized what had happened. The others gave a more modern albeit ungentlemanly reaction.

"Oh shit."

They were stuck in a dream, physical bodies face flat on the forest floor.

**4km away**

Magneto looked around him at the prone bodies lying at his feet, fast asleep. The boy had decided to play his trump card after all. No matter, he would find him. He turned and carried on his search for the boy.

**Dream plane**

The X-men walked on through the seemingly abandoned city, searching for any sign of the boy. Cars stood still in the middle and side of the street, choking up entire avenues. Shops were left open or unlocked, as if inviting interested people to take a look at the wares sold within, except that there neither people in the shops or on the streets. The city was entirely devoid of any sign of life and the building looked pitted and aged, crust falling or peeling off walls as the very buildings underwent the slow process of degradation.

Charles: "Remember. Nothing here except us are real. No matter what you see, no matter how desirable, they are not real. What looks completely harmless can actually be dangerous and what looks dangerous can be what's safe for you."

Bobby looked over at Kitty, feeling worried for her. They were close friends and Bobby cared for her like a little sister. A little Ronnie if you would, but one who accepted who he was. Bobby hoped that things would one day change and that his brother and him could be a family again, but all he had now was Kitty. Kitty was small and petite, but she could put up a fight if she had to. He had already been beaten by her at least thrice. Despite her tough nature, she like him was almost useless in a dream state. Quietly, he slipped close enough to whisper into her ear.

Bobby: "Be careful. Don't take unnecessary risks."

Kitty nodded and continued on. No sooner had they crossed onto a different avenue that a fireball came up out of nowhere and blasted a car close by. Pyro was at it again, with mutants around him charging at the X-men. A fight broke out among the two groups as each tried to best the other. Kitty swung her arm at a mutant who recoiled from the blow before being slammed through a window by Kitty. The X-men, with their better training kept the Brotherhood in check, but their numbers began to tell as they were pushed back.

A lull in the battle ensued as each side reformed for another effort to best the other. Kitty took her place beside Bobby, panting heavily from the exertions of the day. They were tired, they all were. Kitty looked at Bobby whose eyes were transfixed on his one-time friend, Pyro. Kitty would never have Bobby, but if they were going to die here, she would do so protecting him.

Gunfire cut through the silence, the bullets whistling past as they missed and impacted against cars or walls. Two of the Brotherhood were not so fortunate and jerked spasmodically as rounds tore through their bodies. Looking to their left, a force of well armed soldiers advanced towards them, darting between cars or shops for cover. They were well-trained, that was for sure. This was not an unorganized rabble of gunmen sent to eliminate them. These were professional warriors, trained to kill and to do so skillfully as a team or individually. Both sides made a run for it, each forgetting about the fight they had started as they sought to escape the armed men. Attack helicopters surveyed and made strafing runs, catching another Brotherhood mutant.

"Who are these guys?", yelled Piotr as he manhandled the Professor and his chair in both arms.

Professor :"They're not real. They're psychic projections created by the boy as part of his subconscious's defenses. He's spent a lot of his life in the military, so his mental defenses in a dream plane take on the form of a military force."

The X-men dashed into a nearby shopping mall and Piotr bashed open a door before heading inside. The room was a dark hallway when you looked at it as you were coming in but as Kitty followed behind Piotr, it was suddenly bright. The room wasn't the dark anymore after she blinked. It was a typical residential home. She looked behind her and the doorway was gone, replaced by a wall of the house. Everyone she was with earlier had disappeared.

Just then, she heard footsteps come from a nearby staircase and she turned to see Bobby. He came down the stairs smiling at her with what she wouldn't call relief. It was weird. Then again, maybe he was just scared that he wound up in a house and found her. Then, he did the most unexpected thing. Bobby approached her and gave her a kiss. Kitty's eyes went wide and her heart raced as she stood there unmoving. Then she pushed him away.

Kitty :"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Bobby: "What are you talking about?"

Kitty: "What about Rogue?"

Bobby looked at her quizzically.

Bobby:" Rogue? Kitty, are you still dreaming? We're married?"

Just then, a boy rushed into the room and hugged Kitty.

Boy: "Mummy!"

Bobby: "Let's go. Jack has been waiting for over an hour now."

At the back of her mind, Kitty knew that this was a dream and that none of it was real. But somehow her subconscious relaxed as the situation was so desirable and she just followed them out. Walking a little down the road, they came to a playground and both father and son rushed in. Kitty stood there hesitantly at first until Bobby went back to grab her.

Bobby: "Come on Kitty! Its not every day we get to play with Jack here!"

Kitty felt so comfortable in his arms as he pulled her by the waist to the playground and she relaxed even more, allowing herself to live in the moment and join them in the fun. For what seemed like hours, Kitty played both with Jack and Bobby like a loving mother, slowly forgetting where she truly was and living more in this reality.

Meanwhile in another dream plane, Piotr and the Professor found themselves in a maze of corridors, each leading to places that were illogical. Piotr had opened one door and ended up appearing through another one at the other end of the room. The Professor theorized that they had to try the many door and see which one was the right one to progress and so here they were going through what seemed like an endless hallway of doors. Piotr yelled in frustration and kicked another door open before entering.

The door opened up to a staircase with no walls around whatsoever. Everything around the stairs was plain blackness or more stairs leading elsewhere from somewhere else. It was as if they had entered a world where logic and physics had been twisted beyond recognition or didn't even exist. Piotr once again carried the Professor and his chair as they climber one flight of stairs. No sooner had he ascended halfway up that he looked up and saw another set of stairs above him, except that it was in the wrong orientation. Logically, he should have been seeing the bottom of another staircase but he was looking at the surface of one.

Then, both he and the Professor in his arms started falling off the stairs they were on to the one he was looking at.

Bobby walked around his home warily, knowing that this was all just a dream. Then he turned to find his family smiling at him, sending chills down his spine. They didn't have friendly smiles. Ronnie started everything, giving a ear-splitting shriek as he charged at Bobby, father and mother following suit. Bobby ran.

Storm on the other hand was in an office building full of working people. She pretended to be one with the reality and walked through the building in search of the boy. As she walked to one end, a boy suddenly appeared ahead of her and laughed maniacally. Storm charged at the boy, who ran up a staircase and knocked over the man carrying some books as he did so. As storm passed by, the man jerked to the side to avoid her. As she climbed 3 more flights of stairs, she noticed the same man picking up his books. Storm paused and looked around her. The stairs were connected to form a square.

Storm:" Very funny kid!"

Her only reply was laughter. As she flew off the stairs onto the ground level, she noticed all the staff looking at her weirdly. Storm pretended not to notice but then found her way blocked by several people. As she paused to take stock of the situation, the people suddenly screamed and with pupils as dark as night well as distended jaws filled with canine teeth, they charged her. Storm raised her arms to electrify the crowd… and nothing happened.

Realizing what was going on, Storm abandoned her decision to fight and ran for her life, an army of cannibalistic humans on her tail.

Back at the playground, Kitty had already left reality and had immersed herself into her new life. Carrying her son, Kitty planted a kiss on his forehead and brought him to his father. Bobby took Jack from her and kissed her. Staring into those blue eyes, she could see and feel his love for her and their son. There was something a little weird about him and some words or rather a muffled voice came into her mind. She couldn't make it out and decided to ignore it even though it kept pestering her.

As Jack was set down to continue playing, Bobby wrapped his arms around Kitty's waist and dragged her screaming to the ground. Kitty laughed and smacked his chest before starting a furious makeout session with him. Suddenly Kitty stopped as the voice in her head became clearer and clearer.

Bobby: "Kitty, what's wrong?"

_Nothing here is real except us_

Kitty recoiled from Bobby as she realized what she had done. Bobby stood up and the world disappeared. She was now back in the abandoned city, and out from behind a car, stepped a boy.

He had long black hair and was dressed in dark blue mid-thigh length jacket and matching long pants. Kitty studied his features further to find that he was Asian and not that much older than her. The dream walker approached her and stopped just 2 meters away from her.

Boy: "Congratulations. You saw through my deception. I've never seen a first timer in a dream break free from their own desires. Your desire for the one you love is very powerful, enough to overpower your logical thought process. But your willpower is also so strong that it kept on nagging you and brought you back. The fact that you're not a telepath makes it a remarkable achievement."

Kitty: "Where are my friends?"

Boy: "They're in their own scenarios in other dreamscapes or dream planes of existence, scientifically speaking. They're alive for now."

Kitty took one step towards him and tried to compose herself.

Kitty: "There is no need for all this. Please release us and let us talk to you. Its all that we want."

Boy: "I broke free from a military program and am on the run to find a new home and life. I won't let you stop me."

Kitty: "We can help you. That's what we do. We help mutants like you to find acceptance and a decent life."

Boy: "By that you mean you wish to control me. Not going to happen. You seem like a nice person though, sacrificing your happiness for your friends'."

Kitty turned away at the mention of her love for Bobby as memories of what had happened earlier.

Kitty: "Please just let us go and talk to you. We're not here to harm you."

Boy: "I ask you to let me go. I just want to be left alone. I can help you too. You will never have to feel that pain when you see your beloved with someone else."

The boy disappeared and Bobby appeared to her left, flashing that gigawatt smile of his as he approached her. Kitty's heart melted as her heart exerted its most wanted desire. But Kitty knew it was wrong because it wasn't real.

Kitty: "Stop it."

Bobby disappeared and the boy was once again in front of her. Kitty was a little angry now, this kid was just trying to escape but she wished he didn't have to resort to this. Tears started to stream down her eyes as she was confronted with her utmost desire.

Boy: "Isn't that what you want?"

Kitty: "Yes. It is what I want. I want it so badly that every day I hurt myself over it. No matter how hard I try, I will always love him and want to be by his side even though I can't. But what you're offering me isn't real, it will never be."

The boy cocked his head to the side and looked down at the ground before nodding, finally accepting that he couldn't trick this girl into letting him escape.

Boy: "You are a strong girl. You are fortunate. The man with the helmet is fast approaching and so I must leave soon. I can't drag him into a dream and I can't shoot him."

"Damn right you can't", came a rough voice from behind the boy.

Both Kitty and the dream walker turned to see Pyro and a few other Brotherhood mutants behind them.

The boy smiled.

Boy: "Well if it isn't Mr I have anger management problems."

Pyro: "Come with me."

Boy: "You're in my realm, powerless I might add and you're telling me what to do?"

Pyro was taken aback by the authoritative tone of the boy, but realized he was right. He was the king of this reality.

Pyro: "Can you please come with us?"

Boy: "As I told the young lady. No."

"That was a very troublesome maze you put us through", came a calm voice from behind Kitty.

Charles Xavier rolled forward on his wheelchair accompanied by Piotr, a visibly relieved Kitty smiling at them.

Charles: "Clever I might add. I am Professor Charles Xavier. We have met before and I'm here to talk to you, not harm you. I wish to invite you to live and study at my school for mutants like yourself. There you will make friends and learn to make a life in this world, as well as learn to control your power. Your power is great and dangerous if you run rampant with it. We only seek to help you control it and live by moral principles, only using your powers applicably and morally."

Boy: "My name is Maddox von Mannstein. You know my military history. Why should I trust you?"

Charles: "You must have felt the presence of the children at the school during our previous meeting. Still, I understand. I'm asking you to take a leap of faith."

Pyro: "He's lying! He just wants to control you!"

Charles: "Yes I am. But not in the sense that he's talking about. I'm not going to command and control you like the military or a slave master. I'm asking that you allow us to teach you how to control and limit your powers, so that others around you are safe."

Pyro: "The old man lies! He always lies!"

Maddox: "I don't see you making any proposals. All you do is bark like a dog. What do you offer?"

Pyro: "Power. Unrestricted."

"What else?", asked the boy in a disinterested tone.

Pyro was stunned by the question.

Maddox: "Cat got your tongue boy? Or do you need to fetch daddy to know what you need to say?"

Pyro's rage grew and he flipped his lighter on to find that it wasn't there in his hand. Maddox grinned and taunted him further.

Maddox: "You're HUMAN boy!"

Pyro was infuriated but withheld himself, knowing he was powerless in a dream.

Maddox: "Not the typical hormonal teenager after all. Impressive. Tell me, why does your leader wear a helmet and why can't I access his subconscious?"

"His helmet is made of a material that blocks brainwaves of any frequency from entering his mind. Even the strongest of telepaths are unable to bypass it", answered Charles Xavier.

Just then, Storm and Bobby burst from a nearby corner and gave death-glares to Maddox.

Storm :"You've got some explaining to do young man!"

Kitty looked at Bobby and her heart was filled with relief. He was safe, but Kitty was about to find out that this was to be the worst thing to happen as Bobby looked off beside Maddox weirdly.

"What is that?!", yelled Bobby.

Kitty turned to see herself and Bobby embracing and hugging their imaginary child Jack, enraging her beyond belief.

Kitty: "Stop it! Right now!"

"Its not me! Its you!", cried Maddox as he raised his hands up in innocence.

This kid was getting on her nerves.

Kitty: "I mean it!"

Maddox :"I'm telling you its not me! Its your subconscious!"

Kitty stared at him in utter disbelief.

"Your feelings for him are so strong that when you saw him, your subconscious translated your emotions and utmost desire into this dream plane of existence. I can't do anything about that, that's up to you", answered Maddox.

Kitty was stunned. She was the one doing it. Quickly, she reached within herself and shut off her emotions, not without great difficulty.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Bobby looking at her.

Bobby: "Kitty? What was that? What was he talking about? What feelings? Utmost desire?"

Kitty hung her head low as everyone looked at her and tears streamed down her eyes. Mercifully, Maddox spoke before anyone could comment on the matter further.

Maddox :"The helmet man approaches, I would like to hear what he as to say concerning his motivations for chasing me. Is there a way you could convince him to come down here?"

Charles Xavier shifted uncomfortably before replying.

Charles: "I could but I wouldn't recommend it. He is an anti-human extremist. "

Maddox: "No matter, Would you be so kind as to bring him down here so that we're on the same playing field? I don't want him so close to me."

"I can try", sighed the Professor before closing his eyes.

**In the real world**

Magneto trudged through the snow in the general direction of the gunshots, hoping that they would lead him to the boy. The wind blew lightly in his face, whispering like a human voice, getting louder and louder. He stopped and listened again. It wasn't the wind, it was Charles.

Magneto: "I'm not going to do that Charles."

"Then he's not going to meet you. He'll leave now and run. You won't be able to catch him", replied Charles.

Magneto closed his eyes as he contemplated his options. His telepath was dead which meant that he could not accurately pinpoint the boy's location wherever he went, he was old while the boy was young and enhanced which meant that he would never catch up with him. If he was to convince the boy to join him, he had to be sincere enough to risk being killed or else the boy would evidently just run from him. With an exasperated sigh, Magneto removed his helmet and collapsed in the snow.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a city street filled with cars. A boy which he guessed was the dreamwalker stood in the middle of the street with the X-men on one side and his remaining Brotherhood mutants on the other.

Magneto took a deep breath and approached the boy.

Magneto: "My name is Magneto. I am the leader of the Mutant Brotherhood, an organization of mutants for mutants to fight for our rights. Humans have trampled on our kind for years and its time to fight back. We are the ascendant, the new dominant species. Yet humans oppress us and deny us our right. You yourself have experienced first-hand their cruelty. You have talents I could use. What is your name?"

"My name is Maddox von Mannstein", answered the boy warily.

Magneto: "Charles has probably offered to take you in to supposedly control your powers am I right? I offer something better. I offer you the chance to access unrestricted power. Together we can strike down humankind and alleviate our race to its rightful position."

Maddox: "You are offering me unrestricted power? What's the catch?"

Magneto: "There are no catches."

Don't listen to him. He only wants your power, nothing more. He doesn't care for your well-being", interjected the Professor.

Magneto :"Oh come on Charles. Stop trying to portray me as the bad guy here."

The two leader argued further in ever increasing tension for what seemed like an eternity until a gunshot rang in the air. All turned to see Maddox with a handgun in his hand pointed at the sky.

Maddox stared hard at the two sides, scrutinizing them for 10 minutes before finally speaking. The tension in the air was palpable as everyone waited for him to speak.

Maddox: "I have made my decision. The question is….should I let the other side live?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment as the implications of his words manifested in their minds. Until two people spoke up.

Magneto: "Join me and kill the rest. They're a threat to our goals."

"Whoever you choose, let the other side leave. Consider this meeting a truce between all three sides", replied Professor Xavier gravelly.

Maddox stared hard at the two factions as he circled them. Then suddenly, as he got into a position where he could see them side by side, he turned the world black.

As the others instinctively looked at the world around them disappear. Maddox opened his mouth and magnified his head to the size of a skyscraper before swallowing them with a hideous shriek.

Kitty and the rest of the X-men woke up to find themselves on the snowy ground of the forest. There was no ridge behind them that they had supposedly climbed to catch the boy, which meant that they had been out cold even before that.

Kitty glanced around to find the rest of the team groggily getting on their feet. Maddox didn't kill them after all.

Storm was the first to break the silence.

Storm :"Professor? Are we out of the dream? Where is Maddox?"

Charles: "Yes Storm, we are. I sense him getting further from us, continuing his previous course. Its seems he chose neither side."

"We should follow quickly", said Piotr as he got to his feet.

Charles: "No. We go back to the jet and head home. We've travelled too far from it undefended. Besides, there are probably no plains ahead like we thought there were earlier. That means we have no place to land the jet and continue the pursuit."

The X-men got up and headed back to the jet. Bobby, not believing what had seen earlier went to Kitty.

Bobby: "Kitty. What happened earlier?"

Kitty didn't answer and Bobby reached out to grab her arm but was stopped by Piotr. Piotr shook his head and Bobby saw the Professor do the same.

_Not now Bobby. Give her some time to compose herself and do it privately. Don't force her and don't judge her because of what happened. _Came the professor's voice in his head.

Bobby stopped his actions and continued on to the jet in silence, his mind filled with what he considered impossible.

Katherine Anne Pryde was in love with him.

As Kitty settled into her seat, she refused to look at anyone, though she caught Piotr giving her a sympathetic look. She still couldn't believe what had happened. All of her careful efforts had been for nothing. Bobby now knew the truth. As the jet took off and headed back to the mansion, Kitty silently cried herself to sleep.

**Alaskan forest**

As the X-jet lifted toward the sky and a faraway horizon, Maddox crouched low as he continued his journey to avoid detection from the air, unlikely as it was that he would be seen. Once the coast was clear, he recovered and made haste to his new destination. A map now in his hand combined with his exact coordinates using his watch's GPS function, Maddox pinpointed his location and the fastest route to take as he walked. He could get there within two days at his current speed and from there on head towards his new destination. Magneto seemed to have given up as well, and so Maddox decided that the next stream a few kilometers ahead, he would stop at the river for while. He would rest up from the hard marches over the previous days as well as wash up and change out his clothes. He was so smelly that police dogs would pick up his scent in jiffy.

**X-mansion**

As the jet set down, Kitty Pryde quickly descended the ramp and briskly walked in haste to her room, wanting to avoid any contact with Bobby. Once out of the basement, Bobby had broken off from the group and started chasing her down the corridor.

Bobby: "Kitty! Kitty!"

She didn't answer and walked faster, but Bobby soon caught up and blocked her way, catching everybody's attention. Kitty knew then that she had to deal with this if it wasn't going to be front page news in the school. Kitty covertly made a sign pointing to her room, which caught Bobby's attention and he understood. As the two headed off seemingly like normal friends, students resumed their activities like nothing happened. Once inside, Kitty turned to face Bobby.

Bobby: "What was that about back in the dream."

Kitty sighed as tears flowed down her eyes once again. Recomposing herself, she found the courage to say what she had always wanted to once and for all.

Kitty: "That was my greatest wish. To be the person you love. Because I love you."

"Kitty…..", started Bobby but Kitty cut him off.

Kitty: "I know. You don't have to say it. I never wanted to hurt you or Rogue and would never think of getting in between the two of you. So you don't have to worry."

Before Bobby could reply or even attempt to comfort her, Kitty held up a hand.

Kitty :"I think you should leave. I need to be alone. I'm sorry Bobby, please forgive me."

Bobby: "Kitty…"

Kitty :"Goodbye Bobby."

It was evident Kitty didn't want to talk now, so Bobby nodded and left the room. Once she had locked the door, Kitty Pryde broke down in tears.

So there was it. She had finally admitted it. Kitty Pryde was in love with him. Bobby was still in shock and was saddened by the turn of events. Kitty was like a sister to him, nothing more and he couldn't alleviate her pain because he as in love with Rogue. He would have to tell Rogue about this, hoping that she would understand and try to help Kitty through her ordeal. With one last look at her door, Bobby left.

"I'm sorry Kitty.", whispered Bobby.

**A/N: That's it for the double update today. Please continue to read and enjoy this story. Constructive reviews and comments are more than welcome. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chap 7

**Three days later**

**Port Alsworth region**

**Alaska**

Maddox von Mannstein was close to his destination. Port Alsworth was a lightly populated region of Alaska, with less than a few hundred people living in this wilderness. Right below him from the hill sat Wilder/Natwick Airport, a private airport that dealt with private charters and cargo planes. It was a little known airport and in this small and peaceful town, security would be minimal.

Using a pair of binoculars, Maddox observed the almost quiet airport below him. There was some constant activity such as planes landing or taking off every once in a while and ground crew attending to cargo duties or aircraft preparations. Still it was nothing like the bustle of a public airport. The airport was in such an isolated location that there didn't appear to be cameras anywhere. He would move in at night, which was just an hour away.

At the appointed time, Maddox snuck down the hill quietly and hiding close to the bushes near the fence scrutinized the area for any cameras or people. With no risk of detection in sight, Maddox climbed up the fence with a pair of wire cutters and cut the barbed wire at the top of the fence. Once that was done, he went to retrieve his backpack and clambered over into the airport perimeter.

Once he was in, he stuck to the shadows and walls of sheds, making sure each and every possible crevice or corner did not have cameras. Slowly shed by shed, Maddox made his way to the main building. The people were visibly starting to knock off from work, presenting Maddox with an opportunity. He waited in darkness for another hour before making his way to a side door of the building. Once there, he took a look at the keyhole and shaped a pin from his pocket and opened the door.

With another twist of the pin from inside the door, Maddox locked the door as it was before and brought down his pre-prepared night vision goggles and activated them. The hallway was illuminated through his optics in a ghastly green and he slowly made his way to the records office.

Another door unlocked and he was in the records office, where details of every flight from preparation time to take-off was recorded. He sifted through the records of the next day's flights, searching for any relevant ones that would bring him as close as possible to his destination. Then, he found it. An old Antonov jet transport would be flying tomorrow morning on a cargo run to Winchester County, New York. Re-filing the records neatly and placing them in their original position before leaving and re-locking the door. Searching the building, Maddox found opened boxes of canned food, unopened mineral water bottles and empty ones lying around. He took several of each for both drinking and piss-bottles for the flight, heading to the washroom right after to relieve himself. Leaving the building, Maddox sneaked across the airfield to the side of a hangar where the plane of interest was kept. Gaining access into the plane's interior, Maddox made his way to a section of the plane where he knew the floorboard would open up into the circuit stacks in the plane. There he made himself comfortable and set his watch alarm to ring 30 minutes before the official start of work, and went to sleep.

**Next day**

**X-mansion**

Kitty spent the past few days after the mission pretty much alone. She would always avoid Bobby, Rogue or even Piotr. All three of them had tried to get a hold of her but she had evaded them all every single time. The closest had been Piotr and Bobby, but she wouldn't be able to run from the next person who wanted to talk to her.

_Kitty, come to my office immediately_ came the Professor's voice in her head.

Kitty sighed and got off the couch and headed down the hallway to his office. Once she entered, she found both Professors Charles Xavier and Storm within.

Charles: "Please sit Kitty."

Kitty took a seat in front of him and waited for the lecture.

Charles: "Now I am aware of your feelings for Bobby and I want you to know that there's nothing wrong. But I think you need to address this issue and move on."

Kitty sighed and closed her eyes, head hung low.

Storm: "Kitty, we're not here to lecture you on who you should love and whom you shouldn't. But we can see that this is affecting you and everyone else involved greatly. Its time you talked to them and sorted this out."

Kitty: "I know I have to and I will. But I still need some time."

The two professors shared a look before Professor Xavier replied.

Charles: "Just don't take too long."

Kitty nodded and left the room. When she was gone Storm spoke up.

Storm: "She is going to take too long."

Kitty left the office much more irritated than she was before, As if the pressure wasn't already enough. As she rounded the corner, Kitty looked up to find Bobby and Rogue in the way. Immediately seeing that they weren't going to let her pass or go anywhere for that matter, she turned around to find another way back to her room without having to rudely phase through them only to find Piotr blocking her way as well. Looking back and front, she saw a sense of relief in their eyes and she rolled her eyes before phasing through Piotr.

Piotr was momentarily surprised that she had phased through him before he recovered from the shock and looked at Bobby. The two men looked at each other, and then smiled before turning to follow Kitty.

Kitty kept up a brisk walk as the trio did everything they could to hold her down, not that they could even grab hold of her. Finally, she reached her room and phased right through the door, leaving the annoying bunch outside. They were getting so annoying!

Crashing down on her bed, she closed her eyes and calmed herself down. She loved Bobby so much yet she could never be with him and the worst part was she didn't know how to deal with it. It just seemed that there was just no solution.

Just then, weird noises came from the door and Kitty turned to see Storm open the door with a key and the annoying trio standing there. Kitty glared at Storm as she left and watched the three stooges come into her room uninvited.

Bobby: "You've avoided us long enough Kitty. Its time to talk."

Piotr: "You can't keep running forever."

"Just leave me alone", moaned Kitty.

Rogue :"Kitty. You can't just keep burying your pain. We're only trying to help you."

Kitty: "Shouldn't you of all people be angry at me?"

Rogue: "I admit I am a little angry. But I also understand that we can't help who we fall in love with and its not like you were trying anything funny."

Kitty flopped back on her bed as her eyes caught Bobby's. It was hard to just be near him, knowing that he would always be there but always out of reach. Burying her face in her pillow, Kitty started to cry once more.

Immediately, the trio moved to comfort her, staying there with her for half the day. Unfortunately, things were not to be the smooth ride that they hoped for.

Back in Alaska, Maddox lay silently behind a circuit stack as the crew throughout the plane loaded up the cargo and prepared the plane for flight. Not much longer now. Sure enough, the plane started up and headed off onto the runway. After a short pause, the plane sped down the runway at full speed and took off into the air. Maddox looked at the time on his watch. They were an hour late, which was normal for private cargo flights like this one. Within a day, he would be landing in New York state and on to his next objective.

**X-Mansion**

**7:30PM**

Kitty entered the pantry to get some food for dinner, starving after crying for so long. The trio had already left her room long before much to her relief. Picking out a pack of pre-cooked spaghetti, she headed over to the microwave when she noticed several other students giving her odd looks, almost hostile in nature. She turned around and avoided meeting their gaze, waiting for her food.

Once it was done, she headed out onto a table to eat, where more people stared at her. Kitty decided that now was not the best time to find out why they were staring at her and tucked into her food. Just then, one student walking by her gave her a distasteful look and called a whore.

That caught her attention and she stared back as she got to her feet.

Kitty: "What did you just call me?"

Student: "Whore. Keep your hands off someone's boyfriend slut."

At that, other students started jeering her, calling her degrading names. Kitty was too stunned to respond, her mind racing to figure out how they knew. Then, it hit her. The trio had left her door open earlier.

Just then, a loud voice cut through the air.

Bobby: "Leave her alone."

Everyone looked to Bobby, who was already frosting on the verge of anger, fists clenched and iced. Everybody scurried back to their seats, knowing the usually calm and level headed Bobby Drake was about to pummel people. A few looked back to see Piotr enter through another door and stared at him as if to ask for help, but the giant Russian just gave a very grim and impassive expression, signaling that he was uptight. Some didn't get the message and even whispered to him, causing him to transform into his metallic form and raise a fist, silencing any further comment.

Kitty couldn't stomach it and ran back to her room crying. Bobby and Piotr didn't bother chasing her, knowing she would just phase through them. Bobby stood in the centre of the room before speaking.

"Who started it?", asked Bobby venomously.

No one answered.

Piotr: "I've remembered all your faces. If no one owns up, I'm going to beat up all the boys before I go to sleep."

At that, everyone pointed to the student responsible. Piotr was gentle and kind and never joked about beating up someone. So if he said he was going to beat up someone, it was a real threat and as a man of his word, he would do it.

Bobby and Piotr hauled the student out of the room and for the next few minutes, there was continuous screaming. The two X-men dragged the boy back in, visibly in pain from the beating and from the frost on his pants freezing his groin.

Bobby: "Kitty has been the best friend that has always been there for me. She has done nothing wrong and never had any intention of coming in between me and Rogue. I don't care if you dislike her, but you better leave her alone. I didn't ask for you to interfere. This is between me, Kitty and Rogue."

Piotr: "Anyone tries something funny again, I'll break your bones."

With that, the two turned and kicked the writhing student on the ground a few more times before leaving.

**3:00AM**

**Westchester Rescoe Heliport**

In the dark confines of an occupied hangar, an old Antonov cargo jet sat dormant. Flying all the way from Alaska, the plane had completed its journey and been parked in this hangar after the unloading its cargo. Just then, the ramp of the aircraft came down and Maddox came out of the aircraft at the run, hitting the ramp up button as he did so. The aircraft retracted its cargo bay door and all was silent again. Loud as the ramp was, Maddox had not detected any subconscious nearby, meaning that the coast was clear.

Proceeding out the back door, Maddox made his way to a tarmac past the airfield full of crates and observed the scene before him. This private heliport operated 24/7, but the night shifts only involved movement of goods in and out of the heliport, requiring only minimal staff presence. Maddox scanned the area and picked his target. A flatbed transport rolled into the loading bay and came to a stop, beginning its unloading process. With its high chassis, it was the perfect target. Maddox crept closer and waited till the unloading was done and the driver began handing out papers away to a heliport staff away from the vehicle. Then he covertly made his way closer to the transport using vehicles parked around the area for cover before slipping underneath and waiting. As soon as he heard the driver's door slam shut, he grabbed on to the truck above him and pulled himself above the ground, legs hooked onto the vehicle.

The flatbed truck started its journey out of the heliport and as soon as he was well out of sight from the security post at the gate, Maddox released his hold on the vehicle and dropped onto the dirt road. Once the truck itself was out of sight, Maddox quickly dashed into the nearby forest.

Whipping out his map once again, Maddox checked his location with his watch GPS function. Well, at least he knew which way to go now. Removing bag of bottles from his backpack, Maddox poured out the contents onto the forest floor. Not really polite to just throw bottles filled with your urine for others to clear. Maddox left the bottles beside the road and then went deeper into the forest. About 4 kilometers in, Maddox decided to stop for a while to do something. The winter season was coming to an end here in New York state and so there were abundant patches of grassland exposed. It was time to change his clothes to suit the environment.

Maddox changed out of his winter masking uniform and into a normal uniform with a ghillie suit. He then proceeded on his journey, a trip which should take him two days to avoid the densely populated areas of the county.

**One day later**

**10AM**

**X-mansion**

Kitty Pryde walked past the myriad of students, some of whom stared at her with hostility, others passing by with indifference or with looks of pity in their eyes. She didn't care if anyone felt for her. All she wanted was to do what she had done the previous day before. To avoid the jeering students, Kitty only left her room for classes or food and disappeared as quickly as she came. Bobby, Piotr and Rogue had tried to catch her to console her for the events of that traumatic day but Kitty would have none of it.

Many of the students heeded the warnings of the two boys, but several others did not and paid the price. Several girls had joined in the fray the previous day but Rogue had told them off and warned them to mind their own business. Kitty had not had much sleep, resulting in a very pale complexion from the crying sessions she had.

"Kitty! Kitty!", called out three voices behind her.

Kitty turned to see the trio chasing after her and she immediately bolted down the hallway into her room. Resting against the table in her room, Kitty Pryde once again broke down in tears as her feelings for the man she loved and the pain rose up once more.

Bobby: "We better talk to the Professor about this. She's breaking."

With that, the trio turned and headed to Charles Xavier's office.

When they entered, Professor Xavier spoke before any of them could.

Charles: "Yes. I know. I'll have to drag her in here it seems."

Piotr: "This bullying has got to stop."

Charles: "That I'll deal with as well. Storm, some things may need a feminine touch so I'll need you on this"

Storm nodded and then turned to the boys.

Storm: "Your efforts are commendable, but your actions are not. I know what you two did to those boys who harangued Kitty."

Bobby and Piotr looked down at the ground, knowing that this meant trouble, but before Storm could pass judgement, the Professor spoke.

Charles: "Storm….. keep everyone in the building. All activities outside the classrooms are cancelled."

"Professor? What's going on?", asked Storm.

Charles :"He's here. And he's waiting for me."

Minutes later, as the students were herded into the school building, Professor Charles Xavier rolled out onto the school compound escorted by Bobby, Kitty and Storm and approached the rear of the premises where the woods resided. The dreamwalker, Maddox was here. He couldn't believe it. That boy had evaded any form of detection when he arrived in this state and now he just reappeared out of thin air on purpose. Maddox had intentionally broadcasted his subconscious resonance to alert him and thought of several words to pass a message to him.

_I am in the woods. Come find me. No more than 3 people following you_

Professor Charles Xavier really didn't want to call Kitty but the extraneous conditions of the situation demanded it. Piotr had to stay back to supervise the safety of the students. Just a few meters shy of the woods, Professor Charles Xavier called out to Maddox.

Charles: "Its alright. You can come out. We're not going to hurt you."

At first, a complete chilling silence hung in the air. Then, the creaking and snapping of twigs pervaded the air as a small tree magically grew from within a clump of bushes. Except that the tree had eyes. Maddox rose out from his cover, M-16 rifle pointed directly at them and cautiously approached them. Once again, Maddox's face was covered by a face mask with two eye slots which hid his true face from view.

The X-men made no move to subdue Maddox. They had been specifically ordered not to beforehand to prevent a provocative response.

Maddox: "You're a very strange man. I have a gun and yet you have ordered your men not to respond. You have such a unique interest in me, considering that I am a soldier or in the eyes of my detractors, a mass murderer. Tell me more of your offer."

Charles:" I have already stated my intentions. As you must have seen by now, this place is a school and my home for people like you. I know you do not have any funds to study and lead a normal life so I offer that to you here on the condition that the rules of the school and teachings are upheld. To give you a source of income, I have something in mind for someone of your talents. I need a security guard, a role most suited for you."

Maddox looked at him in confusion, as if he was out of his mind.

Charles: "You'll be paid to earn a living and for your service, you'll be allowed to study at this school without charge."

A sudden bark of laughter filled the air as Maddox raised his head and expelled the air in his lungs to the sky.

Maddox:" Let me get this right. You offer me a place to stay, a job and free education? Its too good to be true. What's the catch?"

"The catch is to follow the rules and especially ethics we teach as mutants in society, study hard and protect the people under your charge, which are the staff and students of this school.", replied Professor Charles Xavier.

Maddox stared hard into his eyes. This old man was serious and logic told him that there was something wrong, but yet… there was sincerity. Sincerity in the offer he was making, the motives behind it and the cause he fought for. This old man was a teacher, but his mind was not that much different from a soldier. He had conviction, courage and as Maddox guessed, honour.

Charles: "I know it is hard to believe me. I'm asking you to take several leaps of faith"

Maddox: "Why should I trust you?"

Charles: "That is the first leap of faith. The big question is will you take that first step."

Maddox stayed silent for several moments. Then he spoke once more.

Maddox: "How do I know you can deliver?"

Charles smiled before he replied.

Charles: "You don't. That's another leap of faith."

Maddox stared hard once more. His leaps of faith were enormous. But the conviction and sincerity in his eyes were blazing with fire. The X-men were visibly tense as they awaited his answer. If he refused, things could easily go bad.

Then, Maddox lowered his rifle into a low-ready position.

Maddox: "When do I start?"

The X-men visibly relaxed, relieved that they would not have to confront Maddox after all.

Charles: "The people here with me, you have already met. This is Professor Storm, Bobby Drake and Kitty Pryde."

Maddox nodded to each in greeting and then turned back to the Professor.

Maddox: "I'm assuming we're going through the back door?"

At that Charles smiled.

Charles: "Of course. It wouldn't be appropriate to let you in through the front door with that arsenal of yours."

Maddox followed the group into the building where he was led to a vacant room.

"These will be your quarters. Its separated from the rest of the students for both safety and privacy reasons. The last thing I want is for students to injure themselves by playing with your weapons. Keep them out of sight, and don't ever take them out of the room unless its an emergency."

Maddox nodded and then a question he never thought about before entered his head.

Maddox: "Who's going to guide me through? I'm sure you know that I'm not the most normal and social teenager out there."

Charles Xavier was taken aback by the question. He hadn't thought about Maddox needing someone to stick to him and ensure that his past remained hidden or suspicions about him to be kept to a minimum. His interactions would point out military to everyone.

Quickly, he glanced at the two young X-men with him and made a decision.

Charles: "Kitty will be your partner. The two of you should already be well acquainted with each other by now."

That took Kitty by surprise but she quickly recomposed herself and shook Maddox's hand.

Charles: "You'll begin classes tomorrow. You will be enrolled for all of the modules Kitty is taking since a new year is beginning and come to my office after classes tomorrow. We'll discuss your arrangements as one of our school's security personnel and revise your education timetable."

Maddox: "Yes sir."

When they had left, Storm spoke up first.

Storm: "Professor. I understand his capabilities are huge but are you sure we can trust him with our security. We barely know him at all."

Charles: "Storm. He's taken a giant leap of faith with us. We're going to have to do the same with him if we are to earn his trust."

Storm:"But isn't the leap you are asking us to take a little too high?"

"Well. We'll find out soon enough.", answered the Professor.

**The next day**

Kitty Pryde rounded the corner towards Maddox's room and wake him up, only to find that he was already outside waiting for him.

Maddox: "Morning."

Kitty: "Good morning. Don't you have any other clothes?"

Maddox looked down at Navy blue digital camouflaged pattern clothes and boots before shaking her head at her.

Kitty sighed. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Kitty: "Ready?"

Maddox nodded and they started down the corridor towards their classroom, getting quick introductions to the areas they passed by from itty. Storm was already in the classroom and when she recoiled in shock at Maddox's attire.

Storm :"You can't wear that here!"

Kitty: "He doesn't have any other clothes."

Storm rolled her eyes. Of course, they had forgotten he escaped from a military base.

Taking their seats, the two waited for the class to appear. Maddox was a little uncomfortable give that he as new and that he didn't have a textbook. He would just have to rely on his notepad to record down important points.

As soon as the class had settled, Storm began the class.

Storm: "Today we have a new student joining us. His name is Maddox von Mannstein."

Everyone looked to the rear at the silent newbie behind, who analyzed each face directed towards him. A motion to his right caught his eye and he glanced to see Kitty's hand under the table making a waving sign. Maddox took the cue and waved awkwardly at the class. The class started soon after and spared Maddox from any further uncomfortable interaction.

Soon lunch came and Kitty escorted Maddox around the school on the way to the pantry. As the two settled into their seats and started eating, Kitty caught Maddox staring at her.

Kitty: "What?"

Maddox: "Nothing. Is just that you're a very interesting and admirable character. You are a very loyal friend who would even hurt yourself for others. You have a strong character, and you do not lack the courage to stand up to someone even if the playing field was stacked against you. That I admire."

Kitty looked down at her food as she sheepishly said thank you, a little flattered but knowing his military background knew that he didn't flatter people.

She looked off to the side and caught Bobby and Rogue kissing and her heart sank once again. She quickly turned back to her food to avoid any further heartbreak. She wasn't fast enough to prevent getting caught however. Maddox cocked his head to the side as he studied her reaction and just then, a girl from the next table seemed to take an issue with it.

Girl: "Quit staring Kitty. He's Rogue's. Transfer your slutty hands and eyes off onto someone else."

Kitty was enraged but controlled herself. She wouldn't let his girl get the best of her.

Kitty:" Yes I love Bobby, but that doesn't mean I'm going to take him away from Rogue. Don't call me a slut, you don't know anything about me."

The girl immediately tried to rise but then her eyes caught Maddox staring at her. Unlike what she had previously seen, his eyes were completely black. She could feel herself shaking and sweating uncontrollably, her breathing becoming uncontrolled. She tried to look away but found that she couldn't, she was frozen solid. Then after what seemed like an eternity, the stomach-turning feeling subsided and she sat down, visibly shaken from the experience.

Kitty watched in confusion as the girl just sat down and continued eating, her whole body shaking as if she had fits or had seen a ghost. Her friends had noticed it too and looked over at Kitty's table. Maddox again turned his eyes black from behind Kitty ad they immediately looked back at their own food.

After the incident, there was absolute silence from the two tables as each side simply ate their food and left, leaving one mystified and the others terrified.

The rest of the day went by without a hitch and through their conversations about the school and the life here, the two seemed to relax more around one another.

Kitty: "So what are your hobbies?"

Maddox tripped at the question, unsure of what to answer her. Kitty looked at him with amusement, aware that she had caught him off-guard.

"Well…obstacle courses", answered Maddox as he looked sheepishly at his feet.

Kitty: "They certainly didn't let you waste any time in the military didn't they? Out here we hate obstacle courses. Why on earth do you like them."

Maddox: "Because I don't have to think when I do it. My mind is blank when I'm on the obstacle course and I feel free every time. It was one of the few times that I didn't have to worry."

Kitty kept silent at that, wondering what it must have been like. Not being able to live a normal life, ostracized and used by everyone around him, having to savour such a small freedom in an oppressive environment.

Maddox: "I enjoyed the range too. What do you like?"

Kitty: "I like to just laze around and watch tv actually. If I'm not doing that then I'm thrashing the boys at video games."

Maddox: "I'm not sure I could ever enjoy the things normal people enjoy."

Before Kitty would answer, Bobby suddenly showed up right in front of her.

Bobby: "Kitty. How are you? Don't let the others put you down."

Kitty was still a little traumatized by the event and wasn't really ready to talk to Bobby just yet. So she came up with a lame excuse to be away from him.

Kitty: "I'm fine Bobby. I can't talk now ok? I have to make sure Maddox is settled in."

Kitty pushed past Bobby and Maddox followed in tow, passing Bobby a curious glance.

Their classes had finished for the day and so they headed to Professor Xavier's office as agreed the day before.

Charles: "Ah yes. Come in. How are you fitting in Maddox?"

Maddox just looked down and scratched his head.

"Well, he knows the school's general layout now. He and I are getting on.", defended Kitty.

Charles: "I've decided that you will continue Advanced Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mutant Ethics. I've already printed your timetable here for you. We'll move on to the security arrangements."

Maddox took the paper and looked at it. His subjects were split across the days, allowing lots of time for rest and completion of homework before taking up his security duties.

Charles: "You will be providing security for the school from here on as your part-time job. From 5:30AM onwards, you will provide security at the gate until 8:00AM. From there, you will patrol the school compound and end your sweep within the building at 9:00AM. At 9:00AM you will have one class for 6 hours inclusive of a 1 hour break for lunch. 3:00PM onwards will be your free time to do your homework and rest until 6PM, which will see you at the gate again until 7PM. You will then patrol the school premises until 10:30PM, which is the curfew timing. Once you've made sure that everyone is back in their rooms and no one sneaks out, you will cease your duties and return to your quarters."

Maddox:" There's lots of holes in the timings for people to sneak in."

Charles :"It can't be helped. We're short on staff as it is and you're our only guard. In time perhaps we could hire more guards but for now, you are our only defense. You will earn $600 a month. Do you have a bank account?"

Maddox: "Yes. Before I escaped, I activated my operational alias which comes with a bank account. No one alive knows my current alias and bank account for operational security. Also, I deleted my records and operational data from the facility mainframe, which holds the only records the state has about me before leaving. My alias is now my true identity and is logged in the citizenship system."

Charles: "Well that solves most of the problems. By the way, your attire in daytime will be a black uniform which you should find comfortable. I had Piotr run to town to get some black tactical uniforms used by professionals. They should fit you and conceal your firearm. You'll only carry your pistol by the way. Rifles can only be used in times of extreme emergencies."

Maddox nodded absently. Life was regulated but it wasn't so bad.

After the meeting, Kitty walked with Maddox back to his room. Again Bobby appeared to talk to Kitty but she steered Maddox away on another route in an obvious attempt to avoid him. As Maddox reached his room, a memory of his encounter with her in the dream plane resurfaced in his mind.

Kitty :"So we're back here. Go get some sleep ok? Your days are going to be quite long until you graduate. Goodnight."

As Kitty turned to leave, Maddox called out to her.

Maddox: "Kitty?"

Kitty turned back to face him.

Maddox: "I'm sorry about what happened between you and Bobby in the dream."

Kitty: "Its ok. You already said it wasn't you."

With that Kitty gave a rueful smile and left.

Maddox closed the door behind him, strange thoughts running through his mind. Kitty Pryde had captured his interest ever since he dragged her into the dream at the forest. From then on, she had repeatedly come up in his memory. The more he talked to and thought about her, the more interested he was. He was already becoming more sensitive to her feelings, caring about how she felt when Bobby was around or when others picked on her. Maddox didn't know why, but he wanted to know her better personally.

And that was just what he would do.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Next day**

Kitty walked over to her mutant ethics class just a little further down the hallway and looked outside the window. Maddox had already finished his patrol duty and was heading to his mutant ethics class as well. She smiled at the thought of joining him in the same class and continued walking. Somehow Maddox was starting to grow on her and it was a pleasant feeling. She felt comfortable around him even if he said little, but then again he didn't have to.

Settling down in the classroom, Maddox came into the classroom and flashed a small smile at her. The class went on as usual, except for the fact that Kitty kept on glancing towards Maddox. There was something about him that drew her to him, making her want to know him more. As soon as the class ended, Maddox waited outside for her, but as she reached the door. A hand grabbed her shoulder, preventing her from proceeding.

Kitty turned back to see Bobby, his dazzling blue eyes searing into her own and making her heartbeat erratic.

Bobby :"Can we talk?"

Kitty wanted to say no and looked to Maddox, but he simply bowed slightly and left. That left Kitty no choice and she simply nodded her head.

Bobby brought her to a room where Piotr and Rogue were in and locked the door behind them to prevent any eavesdropping.

Bobby: "Kitty. We're very sorry about what happened and we never meant for it to happen. We should have been more careful."

Kitty: "Bobby, its ok. I know and I'm fine, really so don't worry about me."

Bobby: "Then can we be the way we were before? Because we really miss you."

Kitty stared at Bobby. Her feelings for him were as yet unresolved and she frankly didn't know if she should spend time with them. Yet she didn't feel as much pain as she did before. She didn't know why though. Perhaps that incident in the dream which revealed her feelings for him set her free from hiding it deep within herself, or maybe because she was starting to like Maddox?

Kitty mentally slapped herself at the last thought. She barely even knew him and it was doubtful Maddox liked her. Then again, he seemed to be interested in her in a very unusual way. Could it be? She mentally slapped herself again. She was thinking too much. Then a voice woke her from her reverie.

Bobby: "Kitty?"

Piotr: "Sometimes the best way to solve a problem like this is to take it head-on."

Kitty kept silent as she raced through her options, leaving a tense silence in the air. She still loved Bobby, but it didn't feel as painful as before. The incident yesterday did bring her pain, but it didn't hurt as much before now that she thought about it. She looked at Piotr as she thought about what he said. Was he really right? Was it worth a try?

Kitty: "Alright."

The three visibly relieved friends hugged Kitty and she hugged them back. It was definitely good to back among friends.

Rogue: "Let's get something to eat, I'm starving."

The three proceeded to drag a stunned Kitty out of the room, but Kitty resisted.

Kitty:" Wait! I can't. I have to meet Maddox."

Bobby: "You're not going to escape with that excuse again Kitty. We'll join the two of you."

Kitty let out a groan as she allowed the three to drag her out of the room in defeat.

At a table, Maddox silently ate his food as he looked over his notes once more. He had one essay to write so he decided to he would revise as he ate. Just then, several students including Kitty joined him.

Kitty: "Sorry about the extra company. They wanted to meet you."

Maddox scanned the people sitting with him. There was the iceman Bobby Drake, the steel man and an unknown mutant with white streaks of hair on either side of her head.

Bobby: "You already know me. This is my girlfriend Rogue and that's Piotr."

Maddox greeted each in turn and introduced himself. The group started some small talk but just then a female student called out Kitty, starting a repeat of the incident the other day. This time Kitty retaliated.

Kitty: "At least I don't bitch about other people's business."

The girl stood up to walk to her but to everyone's shock, she collapsed unconscious onto the couch she was sitting on. Her friend beside her tried to wake her up but to no avail. It took Kitty a few seconds what had happened before she whipped her head towards Maddox, who had laid his head on the table fast asleep.

Kitty :"Oh no…."

Bobby and Piotr followed Kitty's gaze and groaned, knowing full well what was happening. Nobody could save that girl now.

The girl stood around confused. One second she had been in the dining room with lots of people and that tomboy brat Kitty Pryde, the next she was in a desolate room. She glanced around again and stopped. Someone was on the chair in front of her, which was empty before. The individual at the seat facing away from her had long hair and was wearing a white hospital gown.

Girl :"Hello?"

The figure didn't answer or move.

"Hello?", inquired the girl once more in a somewhat shaky voice. This time the person in the chair turned his head around to face her. Except that only his head moved, turning 180o without twisting his body so that his head was facing the wrong way in relation to where his body was facing. The girl screamed and fell down on the floor.

Maddox stood up from his chair, his head still facing the wrong way as his impassive and pale face stared at her. The girl stepped backwards but tripped and landed on the ground. As she scrambled backwards towards the door, Maddox turned his boy as he moved towards her, his body now facing the same way as his head and hands outstretched towards her.

The girl wrestled with the doorknob, trying to get the door open but it wouldn't budge. Then Maddox was on her. He slammed is dead cold hands onto her shoulders and spun her around before choking her. The girl struggled but was no match for Maddox and found herself blacking out. Then everything was bright again. She looked around to find herself in the room with everyone else like before. Snapping her gaze towards Maddox, she found him at the table facing away from her just like she remembered and walked towards him angrily. How dare he do that to her! How dare he wake that butch's side. As she reached Maddox and grabbed his shoulder, Maddox's head turned 180o again and she screamed.

She woke up screaming, startling the people around her. Getting away from the couch, she turned towards Kitty's table to see Maddox staring at her quizzically as though she had lost her mind. Before anyone could say anything, the girl ran out crying.

The baffled crowd looked back to Kitty's table before returning to their business, any thought badgering Kitty further abandoned in light of the strange event.

The four friends looked back at Maddox who simply drank his tea in a calm manner as though nothing had happened.

Rogue :"Errrm. What just happened?"

Bobby whispered into her ear and her eyes went wide.

Maddox: "I have to go. I'll see you all later."

"Maddox! Wait!", shouted Kitty but he just left without acknowledging her.

All was silent at the table before someone started laughing. Kitty, Bobby and Rogue turned towards Rogue who was giggling like a little schoolgirl.

Kitty: "What?"

Rogue: "He likes you."

Kitty: "He does not!"

Rogue :"Yes he does!"

Kitty :"Prove it."

Rogue: "Well…. He's so defensive about you. He did just scare the crap out of that girl for picking on you."

Kitty: "He's defending me because we're friends."

Rogue: "Ohh Kitty, if only you knew. The minute he introduced me he was looking at you not so discreetly to see your reaction, and when that girl started picking on you, his eyes were practically shooting lasers. That kid is waaaaay into you Kitty."

Kitty: "He is not. We're just good friends. That's all!"

This time Bobby joined in the fun.

Bobby: "Oh ho! Defensive over your new little friend! Is there something else between you two?"

Kitty :"What?! No Bobby! You people are ridiculous!"

"So you do like him.", replied Rogue slyly.

Kitty :"I do not like him."

Bobby: "Or maybe…. You just don't know it yet."

Kitty rolled his eyes and looked over at Piotr, who didn't seem interested in the conversation.

Kitty :"Piotr?"

No reply. His gaze was far off at a distant part of the room, which didn't appear to be anything special other than the fact that some students had just sat there.

The other three were baffled by his behaviour, it was so un-Piotr. Just then, one of the students stood up and started walking towards the pantry. Kitty watched Piotr's gaze follow the female student to the pantry and she grinned.

Kitty: "Clarice?! You like Clarice?!"

That slapped Piotr out of his daydream and he quickly covered her mouth as several nearby students looked at them.

Bobby :"Oh boy. Not another one!"

Rogue :"Piotr? You've got some explaining to do."

Piotr looked down red faced as his three friends menacingly stared at him, waiting for an answer.

Kitty: "Piotr? Spill."

Piotr: "I….like Clarice."

Rogue :"Since when?"

Piotr shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but the three were unrelenting.

Kitty: "Come on Piotr."

Pitor :" Since the recruitment trials one month ago in the danger room. "

The other three started laughing so hard as the embarrassed Russian covered his face with his palms. There had been a recruitment drive for more X-men members just a month ago, with Piotr taking charge as the group leader of Blink's or Clarice's group. After an incident where Piotr had saved Clarice from a falling car, he had found himself unable to speak anything coherent when she checked on him to make sure he was fine. Everyone had attributed it to being hit hard by that car but they now knew the true reason.

Clarice reappeared out of the pantry and once again Piotr's gaze was drawn to her.

"Don't BLINK or she may just disappear out of sight", teased Bobby.

Piotr once again looked down in embarrassment as the other three roared in laughter at Bobby's jab.

He would never hear the end of it.

Maddox kept up brisk walk as he checked his watch once again. 5:45PM. It was almost time for him to be at the gate. He checked his Sig Sauer P226 pistol again, making sure it was loaded before returning it to his concealed holster under his shirt.

At least Kitty was happy again, being a little more carefree around her friends. For that he was happy. For some reason he really did not like seeing her upset and grew really defensive of her. When that girl called out Kitty, he was extremely unhappy and had terrified her in the dream to chase her away.

She was extremely cute, he had to admit and that was appealing to him in addition to her tough yet sweet character. Reaching the guard post at the gate, Maddox stood at attention as he waited for the cars to start coming in to pick up their children from school.

That night as Kitty lay on her bed, Rogue's words kept on ringing in her mind.

_He likes you. He's so defensive about you. He did just scare the crap out of that girl for picking on you._

Kitty sighed as she rubbed her face in frustration. She still had feelings for Bobby and now Rogue had just thrown a potential spanner into the problem. What if Maddox really did like her.

_Oh ho! Defensive over your new little friend! Is there something else between you two? So you do like him. Or maybe…. You just don't know it yet._

Kitty let out a sigh of frustration as those words rushed into her mind. Now she was very confused. Did she still love bobby? What about Maddox? He was growing on her but was she really falling for him?

With these questions unanswered, Kitty Pryde fell asleep.

It was 10:20PM, and Maddox was making his final rounds to ensure that everyone was headed back to their rooms. Those who were still remaining along the corridors and rooms, he gave gentle reminders that they should be back in their rooms by 10:30PM and that they would be reported if they were caught outside their room by that time. The lights would automatically be turned off at exactly 10:30PM, so Maddox had his flashlight in his hand. At last the lights went out and Maddox turned on his flashlight, beginning one final round to ensure that everyone was back in their rooms. As he walked through the darkened hallways, his thoughts once again turned to the petite Kitty Pryde. Maddox had long forgotten what love was when he was abducted some years back and turned into the monstrosity that he was now. But whenever he stared at Kitty, he found himself continually drawn to her as the days went by.

Maddox never said anything much to her about it as he was afraid that he might just chase her away. They just got to know each other although the circumstances were extraordinary and they seemed to know or understand each other in ways as though they had known each other for a long time. Was it really possible to like someone so soon? Then again they didn't exactly meet like normal people usually did.

Should he go for it? What about her feelings for Bobby Drake? Maddox decided that he would gauge her reactions first before trying anything openly.

Over the next few months, Maddox managed to integrate himself among Kitty's group of friends. He and Kitty had grown inseparable over time, always by one another's side whenever they had free time. Bobby and Rogue had continually been teasing the two behind Maddox's back about the obvious attraction between the two. Kitty had scoffed at them each and every time but secretly she was starting to feel more for him, though she was unsure of his feelings for her.

They were now outside the school building and yes, they were at it again.

"Come on Kitty... Its way too obvious he likes you!", badgered Bobby.

Kitty rolled her eyes. She was kind of confused, she still had feelings for the man right in front of her but at the same time, there was something different in the way she felt for Maddox compared to her other friends.

Kitty: "You're just delusional Bobby."

Rogue: "Says the delusional one."

A brief silence followed until Bobby caught Piotr staring at the red-haired beauty that was Clarice Fergusson.

Piotr noticed Bobby looking at him and immediately turned his attention to his drink, causing everyone to laugh.

Kitty: "No seriously. If you like her, go tell her!"

Piotr just looked down red-faced.

Kitty:" What's wrong?"

"Its not as if she's going to like a dumb Russian like me. I'm not smart. All I have are these muscles which aren't much.", replied Piotr sadly.

Rogue: "Oh come on Piotr. You can't possibly be holding back because you think you're dumb."

Bobby: "I'm sure she'll like you."

Kitty: "You are a caring and nice guy and I'm sure she'll like you. You're not dumb."

Piotr didn't answer but just continued to drink from his soft drink can. It was clear his confidence wasn't that high right now and the others knew the best thing to do now was to drop the subject.

After their little gathering, Bobby and Rogue were walking down the hallway when Bobby suddenly dragged her to his room. Locking the door behind him, Bobby and Rogue started a furious make-out session. It was good to be able to touch each other like normal people, not that Bobby really minded her powers. It was what drew him to her.

As they kissed, Bobby suddenly felt a strange and familiar feeling snake its way from her mouth to his cheeks. It was uncomfortable at first but then it flared painfully. Bobby pulled away and collapsed on the floor, out of breath.

Rouge: "Bobby! What's wrong?"

Bobby looked at her and it was then Rogue knew. Her powers were back. The Worthington Laboratories mutant cure had failed. She was too powerful for it to completely erase her powers.

Bobby: "I think we need to see the Professor about this."

**A/N: Are Kitty and Maddox just friends or are they headed for something more? Rogue has got her powers back but is that going to strain her relationship with Bobby? Plus what will Kitty's reaction be when she finds out Rogue's powers are back? Will she continue to place the happiness of her friends first or will this new development entice her to fight for Bobby?**


	9. Chapter 9

Chap 9

"Well. This brings back old complications, but I don't think it will be much of a problem. You definitely need to resume your training to control your powers. I'm confident that someday you will achieve full mastery of it", said Professor Charles Xavier.

Rogue sighed as the Professor's words sunk into her head. Earlier, she had discovered that her powers had returned whilst kissing her boyfriend. She had wished that somehow her powers wouldn't return but they had, and she had come to accept that this was the way things would be after all. She hoped that she and Bobby would find a way around this.

Kitty stood off to the side, multiple thoughts racing through her mind. Rogue's powers had returned and that brought about some changes. She was very concerned as it did affect two of her friend's relationship with one another but an evil thought came into her mind. Rogue's powers returning meant that she could not touch Bobby as much or be as intimate as before, that just might give her a chance with Bobby. As soon as that thought came into her mind, she crushed it. She wouldn't do that to her friends. Still, the thought persisted at the edge of her peripheral consciousness. Kitty eyes furrowed in frustration, it was as if the situation between her and Bobby wasn't complicated enough. She still had to figure out what was going on between her and Maddox. Shaking her head gently, she re-concentrated on the situation, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind.

Bobby was sitting on the chair, still a little dazed from the incident. He had checked out fine in a preliminary examination but Storm and Professor Xavier insisted he sit down. This wasn't going to cause much problems, at least on his end but he knew he had to make sure Rogue knew that there wouldn't be any on her end either. Rogue did tend to panic a little too much. Groggily, he looked over at Maddox, who had brought him in earlier. Unable to walk straight and too heavy for Rogue to carry, his girlfriend had called on Maddox who was passing by to help her. One person on each side, the two had dragged Bobby to the professor's office.

Maddox wasn't really listening to what everyone was saying even though he turned his head to each person speaking. His primary concern was Kitty and how she felt. Maddox's true attention was on Kitty's reactions as he wanted to determine if she was really still pining for Bobby. Her feelings for Bobby didn't sit that well with him. Jealousy? Perhaps. It didn't matter though. He would ensure that the threat was….. neutralized. He wasn't really sure if he really liked Kitty more than a friend but he was determined to find out.

After the talk, the group went to the dining area to get some food and drinks, including Maddox who was off duty at the moment.

Kitty: "What do you guys want?"

The others gave their order and Kitty went together with Potr to get the stuff. As they were reaching the pantry, three girls blocked their way.

Piotr: "Can we help you?"

The leader of the group looked at Kitty before speaking.

Girl :"You're really shameless aren't you? Sticking around Bobby like that. It's amazing how everyone puts up with you."

Piotr :"You better leave. She has done nothing wrong."

The girl ignored Piotr and continued addressing Kitty.

Girl :"What makes you think Bobby or anyone would like a slut like you? You're a tomboy and you don't even look like a girl. Just get over the fact that no one will ever love the slut that you are."

"That's enough!", roared Piotr.

Kitty was holding her tears in but the words never left her mind. She was right about that. No one would ever love her. Why would anyone.

Just then, a pair of hands wrapped themselves around her waist and she jumped in surprise. She turned her head around to find Maddox standing there. Before she could respond, Maddox did the unthinkable and slammed his lips against hers.

Jaws started dropping all around the room at the spectacle in front of them. Kitty's eyes were wide in shock and she could not move from her spot. At last Maddox pulled back after what seemed like an eternity and looked at the girls in front of Kitty.

Maddox: "You were saying?"

The girl in front was speechless, unable to believe that someone did actually like her, the school's newest student and security guard to boot. Seeing the girl falter, Kitty took the opportunity to speak up.

Kitty :"I may not be as pretty as you or anyone else, but at least I know I'm doing the right thing. And at least I have true friends at my back."

The girl advanced angrily towards Kitty but stopped when Maddox stood beside Kitty. The girl didn't heed his warning and continued towards Kitty but then Maddox stood in front of her, eyes black as night.

The girl looked directly into them, drawn further into the blackness the longer she stared. She tried to look away but found that she couldn't. Her body wouldn't obey her will and a sharp pain blossomed in her chest, spreading its way to her entire torso. Her breathing became erratic and uncontrolled, her body sweating profusely. Soon, the pain spread to her lungs and she found herself unable to breathe, her body collapsing on the floor jerking spasmodically as she stared upwards into his eyes.

Kitty looked into Maddox's eyes and recoiled at the sight. It was completely black but looking at it was nauseating and painful. She guessed that this was what happened to the other girl that day. Seeing the girl convulsing in pain she shook Maddox's arm.

Kitty: "Maddox! That's enough!"

Maddox immediately stopped at Kitty's command and looked down impassively. The girl was starting to recover but her eyes were filled with terror. With one last look, she staggered out of the room with her accomplices. Maddox turned back to Kitty to make sure she was fine.

Maddox :"are you alright?"

Kitty: "Yeah I'm fine. Is there something you want to tell me?"

Maddox looked down shyly. He was definitely cute like that. Now Kitty was caught up between two choices. She could continue pining for Bobby who would never love her back, or she could choose Maddox who just openly declared his love for her and possibly find her happiness with him. Bobby and Rogue's relationship was at a crossroads but should she really come in between them? Also, was it really worth a shot with someone like Maddox, whom she had not known for that long? Would such a relationship last? After thinking hard, she came to a decision.

Kitty: "I guess this means…..I'm yours?"

Maddox: "Can I really say that?"

Kitty smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek. Some adoring noises came from their table and Kitty immediately looked over Maddox's shoulder.

Kitty :"Shut up Bobby!"

Everyone started laughing.

A little while later after more teasing by the rest, the new couple with their friends in tow headed to a set of couches and sat down for a little talk.

Kitty: "Maddox. What was that you did just now? It looked kind of dangerous."

Maddox took a breath before explaining.

Maddox: "I paralyzed her central nervous system using her fear."

The rest looked at him baffled.

Bobby: "Is it lethal?"

"Basically when a victim looks at me, I stoke up their fear and terror to a level in their subconscious that I can control. Once I have a foothold, I control their fear and terror. The victim becomes so paralyzed with fear that he or she is unable to move and finds their body unresponsive. Prolonged periods of exposure results in chest and abdominal pains, respiratory problems, intense nausea, vomiting and muscle spasms. Since they cannot move, all they can do is continue to stare at me which only worsens the effects, continued exposure results in death by asphyxiation, loss of oxygen to the brain, overloading of the central nervous system by pain." explained Maddox.

The group was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"It is fatal.", said Maddox gravelly.

Kitty took Maddox's face in her hands and looked into his eyes seriously.

Kitty: "Don't ever do that again. You could have gotten expelled for that."

Maddox nodded before Kitty planted a kiss on his lips and pulled away.

Rogue :"So that just leaves you Piotr."

Piotr looked down embarrassed at his feet as the others eyed him playfully.

After talking for a while, the group went their own ways but Kitty followed Maddox, intent on asking one important question.

Kitty:" Maddox. Can I ask you something?"

Maddox nodded and waited for her.

Kitty: "What went on in your mind that made you kiss me at that time?"

Maddox paused for a while before answering.

Maddox:" All I knew was that I wanted her and you to know that I like you."

Kitty smiled shyly and nodded. She had taken a chance with Maddox, not knowing if she was doing the right thing. But looking at him now, she felt loved and assured that a happy future without Bobby Drake was possible, more than that, it was guaranteed.

**Later that night**

Maddox prowled the dark hallways, flashlight shining at the ground ahead of him. This job wasn't so bad. He had a home, a job, an education, what was fast becoming a normal social life and now a girlfriend. That last word still sounded a little strange in his mind. He never knew anyone whom he could call a friend before, much less a girlfriend and yet he now did.

Checking that doors were shut and using his mutant abilities to detect the presence of anybody's subconscious outside of their rooms. There was someone down the hallway.

Maddox made his way down to where the unidentified person would be, flashlight shining across the hallway for any signs of recent activity. A slight thud signaled the closing of a door in a careful manner, soft enough to be unheard in the day, but loud enough in the silence of night. Maddox turned the corner and stopped. None of the doors showed any sign of forced entry and there as expected no one was in the hallway.

Rather than open each and every door which would alert the potential intruder that he was aware of what he did, Maddox played the light just long enough to make a detailed check for signs of forced entry and finding nothing, walked back the way he came. Once he had turned the corner, he hid behind it and waited.

True enough, the sound of a door creaking open came to his ears. He waited for two seconds then looked down the corridor and activated his flashlight. The light played across the stunned face of a young boy who had just begun closing the door he had come out from.

Maddox: "What are you doing out here boy?"

The boy was simply too stunned to answer.

"Identification?", asked Maddox.

Boy:" My name is Jack Stone."

"Are you a student here?", asked Maddox wearily.

The boy nodded but didn't say anything else.

Maddox: "You do realize that no one is allowed out of their rooms at this time right?"

The boy looked down at his feet and shuffled uncomfortably.

Maddox:" Then may I ask what are you doing out here?"

Boy: "I wanted to go out for a while."

Maddox: "Turn around and put your hands in the air."

The boy complied and Maddox proceeded to search him. There was nothing on him.

Maddox: "Take me to your room now and don't try anything funny."

The boy led the way silently and shoed Maddox to his room.

Maddox: "Show me your ID card."

The boy went into his room and gave it to him. Maddox took a look at it, making sure it was really his and that it wasn't a counterfeit card of sorts before whipping out his notebook and writing down the boy's ID details.

Maddox: "This is probably going to get you detention time once I report this. Go back to sleep and don't come out again unless you want to make things worse."

The boy silently closed the door and Maddox started to write his log report in his notebook. He noted down the events generally and the approximate time it happened, along with what he noticed during the incident and his actions at the end of it. This would be given to the duty professor tomorrow morning, after which a formal log report would be typed out by him to be filed and logged.

Once he had written his activity log report, Maddox went back to the area the student was caught and made a thorough search for anything unusual before he resumed his patrol duty.

**The next day**

Storm walked through the hallway as she attended for her duties for the day. With the Professor back from the dead, she was free from the headmaster work and that was a big relief. Still, that didn't mean that she had nothing to do. She was the duty professor for the day, which meant all important issues such as security were hers to deal with for the day.

It hadn't been so tiring in the past with Scott and Jaen around, but they were gone and so was Logan, who left right guilt-stricken after the Alcatraz incident. The rest of the x-men had stepped out of their way to help relieve the pressure by taking up the role but they were still students and so she still had to help them out as the eldest of them all.

Just then, a black clad boy with a cap stood in front of her and she looked down at him. It was Maddox. Opening his notebook, Maddox showed it to her.

Maddox: "Professor. This is the activity log from last night. A student by the name of John Stone was caught wandering in the hallways last night. His ID checked out and said he just wanted to go out for a walk when questioned. Investigation of the area did not yield any evidence that anything was stolen but I would suggest you find someone and make a thorough search."

Storm sighed heavily and closed her eyes before taking a look at Maddox's notebook. Making mental notes as she read, she thought about who she should send to investigate the issue. Piotr and Bobby were busy today training the new recruits, Logan was gone and she was the duty professor f the day. That left only on person.

Storm: "Take Kitty with you later and look around just in case. I'll handle the boy."

Maddox: "Yes Ma'am."

Kitty: "So let me get this straight, we're going to go through an entire hallway of rooms and see if the kid you caught last night took anything."

"Yes.", replied Maddox.

Kitty sighed and followed Maddox as he led her to the rooms. Starting off with the hallway, Maddox and Kitty searched the area for any items that seemed to be missing. There didn't seem to be anything wrong so they moved on to the room where the boy hid in the previous night. Again they found nothing and started searching through the rest of the rooms, only to end up empty handed. It was clear that nothing was taken so they ended the search, but just then Maddox was yanked by the arm into a nearby room.

As soon as Kitty got him into the room, she brought Maddox's head down for a ferocious kiss as she led him to a corner of the room.

Maddox looked at her quizzically, baffled at her aggressive behavior. Kitty grinned, fully appreciating this moment when her usually alert and stoic boyfriend didn't understand what was going on.

Kitty: "What? Can't a girl get some private time with her boyfriend?"

Maddox smiled and gently kissed her again. So caught up were they in the kiss that they had forgotten to close the door. Just then, a clicking sound caught their attention and the couple stopped. Turning towards the sound, they found Bobby with his handphone.

Bobby: " This picture is priceless."

"Bobby!", screamed Kitty as she chased him out of the room and into the hallways.

**A:N: I corrected certain errors in previous chapters like chapter 4 where I left the word Ontario instead of Alaska and certain spelling mistakes I caught**


	10. Chapter 10

Chap 10

**A few days later**

Another ordinary day at Xavier's Institute for the Gifted saw the students studying there going about their daily lives. It was just another day of classes and homework once again, just like any day. It was a normal day. Well, not so much when everyone was staring at you and your boyfriend.

The news that Kitty was dating the school's security guard had hit the school like wildfire and she received questioning looks, some hostile wherever she went. Like some she received right now as she sat eating with her boyfriend. Probably thinking that she was a slut, changing her preference from Bobby to Maddox just like that in a snap. That couldn't be farther from the truth however. Kitty had been feeling less for Bobby and more for Maddox genuinely ever since he came in. The others had told her not to mind but she couldn't help it. Why did everyone have to poke into her business just because she liked Bobby previously?

It didn't help that they were out in the garden and everyone could see them but so what? Everyone did that. What was so special about her and Maddox? Ok, fine he was the security guard but he was also a student and that had to count for something right?

"Stop thinking about it.", interrupted Maddox.

Kitty: "Stop thinking about what?"

Maddox: "About what everyone thinks of us. It'll die down soon."

Kitty nodded and leaned into her boyfriend's embrace, snuggling into his chest. Maddox looked down at his petite girlfriend and smiled. She was so adorable and lovable. Running his hand through her hair, Maddox held her there as they sat on the lawn.

Staring out at the gate a bit to their left, students went about near it as they went to their classes or just to hang out. Just then, a man entered into the compound and caught Maddox's attention. He was dressed just like any regular person, except that he was wearing a jacket which was abnormal considering how warm it was. His movements were also suspicious, looking everywhere as he went as though he were surveying the area. His hands were always pulling his jacket, making sure it was covering his front and his pace was hurried. Something wasn't right about him. Maddox immediately nudged Kitty to get off him and reached for his earpiece.

"This is Maddox. Suspicious person spotted walking through the gate. I'm going to check him.", radioed Maddox.

Kitty: "What should I do?"

Maddox: "Get to an alternate doorway and see if you can direct as many people as you can that way."

Kitty got up to do as he asked while Maddox headed towards the suspicious man. He was definitely heading for the interior.

Maddox: "Excuse me! You with jacket! Can I talk to you sir?"

The man jumped just slightly at the sound of his voice but he kept on walking at an increased tempo. Maddox put his hand on his holster, ready to draw his handgun at a moment's notice. Using his other hand, he signaled other students to clear the area.

"The man wearing the jacket! Stop right there! Security!", yelled Maddox.

The man turned around and drew a gun as he did so, gun rising towards Maddox. But Maddox was faster. Maddox had closed up right to the man's back while he was still walking and was now close enough for Maddox to grab his arm. One hand drawing his weapon, one on the man's hand, Maddox twisted his assailant's arm as he brought his Sig Sauer P226 up and on the man's head. The impact knocked the man to the ground and caused him to release his gun just as it was rising, stalled in flight by Maddox's free hand. As quick as it began, the fight ended. Maddox used a cable tie to immobilize the man's arms and held him down as he radioed for help.

Maddox: "This is Maddox. Armed intruder in the courtyard neutralized. Activate red status. Lockdown everything."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the alarm came on along with the PA system explaining that the alarm was real. Students rushed back to their rooms as was standard procedure while the X-men coordinated the lockdown. After checking the man for anything dangerous, Maddox yanked the man up and brought him into an isolation room. Maddox ran back out and along with the X-men went to check everybody's room for any sign of any more intruders while the Professor watched the cameras from a security room for any further intrusions. Two hours later, it seemed that the man was working alone and the lockdown was lifted.

Professor Charles Xavier entered the isolation room along with the X-men. The police had already been called so they didn't have much time. The man sat in a chair with his hands bound tightly and looked at the group with a hostile stare.

Charles :"I am Charles Xavier, the headmaster of this school. Why did you come here with a gun?"

Man: "Get away from me freak."

Bobby: "We're humans just like you."

Man: "Shut up! You're not human! You're freaks, animals. What gives you animals the right to exist? You're a threat to all humanity."

Charles: "That's not true."

Man: "This world belongs to us humans, not you. It will never be yours. We will stand up and fight back. One day, your kind will be extinct and mankind can live in peace once more."

Charles: "Mutants and humans can co-exist. We are no threat."

Man: "The Human Majority will prevail."

Just then, Storm came in with the police.

Storm :"This is him officers."

Maddox handed over a zip log bag containing the man's gun, carefully picked up with tissue paper and placed in the bag after Maddox sent the warning.

Maddox :"This is his. I'm Maddox, the security guard. I saw him acting suspiciously as he entered through the gate. Guy was hugging his jacket close to himself and looking around weirdly. I followed him and asked him to stop but he didn't listen. I called out to him a second time but he drew the gun one me, after which I subdued him."

One of the officers noted everything down in his notebook as Maddox spoke.

Officer: "No shots fired?"

Maddox :"No sir and this is the security footage."

Maddox handed over a disc to the officer and he placed it in a pocket.

Officer: "Thank you ladies and gentlemen. We'll take it from here."

The two police officers took the man with them as they left, but the ordeal was far from over in everyone's mind.

Charles: "If the Human Majority movement was behind this, we're in for more serious trouble."

Just then the Professor's phone rang, signaling new emails received. The Professor looked at it before looking up once again.

Charles: "It looks like they're involved or at least someone is organizing this in their name. Whoever it is, they'll be back for more and worse."

He showed his phone which showed the email he received

_You won't be so fortunate the next time._

Maddox: "Sir. I recommend we shut down the school for a while and send as many students as we can home. We're short on security manpower as it is for now even if I go full time. We escaped today because there was only one attacker, if they come back with more, X-men or not, there'll be a blood bath."

Storm: "What? You can't just do that. That's exactly what they want."

Maddox:" We don't have a choice Professor. We can't defend so many students and from what I can tell from the security briefings, these Human Majority members aren't afraid to kill mutants any way they can. I wouldn't put it beneath them or their skill to attack again with bombs and the like."

Charles thought hard for several long minutes before making his decision.

Charles :"He's right. We'll have to shut down the school for a while. We can't hire private security, any one of them could be part of the movement too. We need more guards, but it will take time to find the right people."

It wasn't an easy decision, but it had to be done.

**Two days later**

With the exception of a few students, the rest were sent home for their safety. The X-men stepped up their security, watching for any sign of an impending attack. There had been no one seen during the two days, the school and its surroundings imitating some ghost town in a horror movie. Then early in the afternoon, a black car with tinted windows approached from the road, bearing government plates and American flags stuck on the hood of the car.

Maddox slowly exited his guard post at the gate with his hand on his holster and approached the car as it came to a halt near him.

The window rolled down to reveal an important looking man in a suit, except that the man was a furry blue one.

Blue man: "Hi. I'm the Secretary of Mutant Affairs, Hank Mccoy."

Maddox scrutinized the blue-furred man and his retinue warily, not letting his guard down. Just then, the Professor's voice came into his head.

"_Its alright Maddox. He's an old friend. Let him in."_

Maddox relaxed and returned to his post to press a green button. The gate to the school opened and the black car drove on in.

The X-men were all gathered in the conference room along with Maddox, who had been replaced with one of Hank's security detail.

Hank :" We're working as fast as we can to catch the perpetrators but its not easy."

Kitty: "Why can't you just arrest the leaders of the Human Majority movement?"

Hank: "I wish we could, but the fact is we don't have solid evidence that they were responsible and the movement isn't an organized one. Its more of a mob than a movement since there are no clear leaders. The group is basically disgruntled homo-sapiens banding together with cliques, factions and even beliefs about their cause here and there so arresting the leaders or even everyone in the movement is just impossible."

Charles :"This is greatly disturbing Hank. They've never done anything so audacious before. Things are going out of hand now. Also I have to ask something of you."

Hank :What is it?"

Charles :"Maddox here is our security guard. We found him in Alaska where he was held as part of a secret government endgame project for mutants."

Hank: "That's impossible. All projects go through the president and I know him, he wouldn't do that."

"He never knew.", interrupted a voice from the window. Everyone turned to face the direction of the voice. Maddox stood there, hands clasped behind his back as he looked outside the window.

Maddox:"It was a project so clandestine that only the people directly involved with the project knew. However, the project leader was General Preston. I believe he died of a heart attack some months back."

Hank :"Who else was involved?"

Maddox circled the room as he spoke, keeping his eyes on the floor.

Maddox: "General Preston was the last official living outside the facility, but there are several FBI officials who were not directly involved. Their job was to provide muscle to subdue me if required. Some of them tried in Alaska. They failed."

Hank: "Did you kill them?"

Maddox: "If you count mysteriously ruptured organs as my doing, then yes I did."

Hank: "Are there more?"

Maddox: "Yes, there are. I was too far away to deal with them."

"So you killed General Preston then.", stated Hank.

Maddox: "Yes. He was the last official who knew the true extent of the project in detail. Before I escaped, I wiped out the only data concerning the project in the facility. General Preston was paranoid and so all information was kept on site. There are no records of the operation left. However, if you look at Superintendent Pezzini's computer he has stashed in his basement, you'll find records of the muscle operations and they've probably rehired people to replace the staff on the site who are now dead."

"I'll bring this to the President. There had been rumours but such rumours are rife.", said Hank as a cold chill settled in his spine at the implication of Maddox's last sentence.

"You'll have to do this through backchannel dealings. Any movement will be seen and heard by Pezzini. Just go straight and raid him. Use military black ops if you can. From the records I saw, General Preston didn't have clearance for them so its highly likely they're clean.", said Maddox as he returned to his place near the window.

Hank: "Thanks for the advice, unseemly as it is. Charles, another reason why I'm here is the Brotherhood. The government needs help. We've received reports that Magneto is building an army in the nearby Philadelphia. The President understands and appreciates the X-men's capabilities, so he has asked me to request for your services."

Charles: "What do you need us to do?"

Hank: "We need you to recon an area where Magneto's alleged operation has been building up. If it turns out to be true, help us take it down. You are the foremost experts on Magneto and therefore the best people to deal with it successfully."

Charles: "We'll do what we can. Thank you Hank."

Hank :"Thank you Charles. Oh by the way, What is the name of the project they put you under?"

Maddox: "The files will be hidden, get your best hackers to do it stealthily or the computer will delete any incriminating data. Once you're in, the name of the project is Psycho Mantis."

Six hours later, the X-jet was in the air headed towards Philadelphia, the state where Magneto was suspected of building his new Brotherhood. Kitty looked around her once again at the X-men team, old and new faces all around. Blink was now in the team, having been selected to join the X-men. Rogue had stayed behind to look after the children since her powers were only just returning. Looking at the seat in front of her, her thoughts turned to the briefing they had earlier.

_Charles: "We have to find out what Magneto is doing. To that end, we will land here and wait for Maddox, who will be dropped in as our recon."_

_Storm: "Professor. Is that wise? Maddox is new to this."_

_Charles: "Maddox is special forces trained. He excels at this better than anyone here."_

"_He can do it. He will.", said Kitty._

_Everyone looked at her and she looked down embarrassed, having realized how defensive of Madoxx she sounded. _

_Charles: "Well, it is good that you have faith in my plan."_

Kitty looked across towards Maddox, who was making final preparations for the drop. Maddox was once again clad in military gear. This time he wore a standard military digital camouflage uniform with a matching helmet along with a black balaclava. For his weapons he had brought his AR-styled sniper along with both his AK and M16A4 rifle. A single Sig Sauer P226 pistol lay holstered at the hip. Kitty was a little worried about eh information he had released during the meeting with Hank. What did Psycho Mantis mean? Did it have anything to do with his training or the personality they molded him into? She would make it a point to ask him once they got back. Maddox caught her stare and gave her a nod.

Most would take it as gruff acknowledgement but Kitty knew he meant to say that he would be fine and that he loved her. She smiled and mouthed back the words 'I love you too' to him. Bobby and Piotr caught their exchange and smiled devilishly at them. Kitty saw their expressions and rolled her eyes. As Storm brought the jet close to the ground, Maddox walked to the rear ramp and jumped out.

Rolling through his fall before recovering into a crouch, Maddox brought his M16 rifle up and scanned the area as the X-jet took off into the sky. So far so good it seemed. He stood up and jogged to the safety of the forest ahead, starting the trekking phase of the operation.

**2 hours later**

Maddox trekked through the forest, using his mutant abilities to detect the presence of any Brotherhood mutants within 2km. That would give him advance warning and give him the general direction of their picket lines, if they had any.

_There._

The presence of several subconscious were detected, to which Maddox's response was to tread carefully, trying not to make too much noise. As he got closer, more were detected. As Maddox got to a vantage point to observe the camp, he couldn't believe how careless the Brotherhood was. There was no picket line to screen any attack, leaving the camp relatively undefended. There were guards just outside the camp but within such close proximity to the camp, any warning they gave would be useless. Maddox brought out his sniper rifle and scanned the camp for any unusual activity. All was as expected, mutants living out their life in camp or training for the coming fight. Then, he found himself unable to detect a particular spot in the camp so he turned his rifle in that direction slowly and found out why. Magneto or as Maddox liked to call him, helmet man.

The camp was not that big, with an estimated 70 mutants including Magneto.

"Maddox here. 70+ mutants including Magneto. Could be more around but I doubt that many. Come quietly", radioed Maddox.

Storm: "Ok. We're on our way."

Maddox returned to observing the camp as the X-men made their way towards him. As soon as they arrived Storm devised a plan to attack the Brotherhood.

Magneto walked among his little army, inspecting the preparations his mutants were making for the coming war. Then almost as one, the people around him dropped to the floor of the forest unconscious. He whirled around to find the X-men running down a hill. Damn them. He was powerless here with little metal lying around. Magneto looked down at his fire manipulating lieutenant, who was asleep like everyone else. A pity, but he had no choice. Magneto turned and ran.

Kitty ran with the X-men with the exception of Piotr who was busy securing as many prisoners as he could. They only knew the general direction he took through the forest and if they didn't catch him soon, they would have to return to secure the prisoners. There was a limit to what Maddox could do to hold off 70 mutants in a dream without killing them. Kitty hoped that they would be able to catch Magneto before they had to return.

10 minutes of searching were fruitless and Kitty's greatest disappointment came alive.

Storm: "We're going back."

Kitty wanted to argue but knew that Maddox and Piotr needed help, so reluctantly, the X-men ran back to the camp.

**Dreamplane**

Maddox ran hard, a large mob of mutants chasing him down the alley. He had been specifically ordered not to kill anyone unnecessarily but it was proving difficult. There were over 70 mutants and just one of him. It was impossible to separate so many people into individual dreams or dreamplanes without losing control over them and so he had separated them into small groups within the same dream. That would make things easier and while they were in the same dreamplane, he could place them into different realms of the dream as he did in his first encounter with the X-men. It was working except for the fact that he couldn't kill them unnecessarily and there was a large group right behind him.

Maddox thought fast, at this rate they would figure out the layout and surround him. Maddox ran straight into a shopping mall filled with complex stairways and ascended up the building. The Brotherhood mutants followed, splitting up to take different staircases. Anytime they saw Maddox, he seemed to be getting further away from them and groups of mutants ended up running into each other, taking different staircases to no avail. No one noticed, but if there were any architects among them, they would have seen the paradox that was the shopping mall.

After Maddox had gotten some way up the building, he had turned the staircases into a maze of penrose and escherian stairwells. The mutants could try all they want, but they were never going to catch Maddox here.

**Back in the real world**

The X-men bound the hands and feet of the last few mutants, having given up the search for Magneto. After Storm made the call to the authorities, Blink teleported to Maddox's overwatch position to wake him up. She gingerly placed her hands on his shoulders and gently nudged him. Maddox immediately awoke and nodded to her before returning to the scope of his Remington R25 sniper. Blink teleported back to find the prisoners starting to recover from their ordeal in the dream.

_Now is the moment of truth_ thought Kitty

True enough, several of the stronger mutants burst free of their bonds and attacked the X-men. Blink was one of the first to make contact and teleported a mutant to face the other direction before punching his head hard. Piotr stood nearby, clobbering mutants with his metallic form while Kitty and Storm fought side by side. Kitty phased through the hand of an attacking mutant and launched her unphased right arm in a hook that caught the mutant's jaw, instantaneously knocking him unconscious. Another came at her and she drop-kicked him, swiping his legs from under him before punching his face. So preoccupied was she that she never noticed another mutant come up behind her. As she withdrew her arm, a looming shadow appeared over her and she whirled around to see a huge mutant with large claws already swiping her. Kitty was too shocked to phase immediately, but the blow never came. A loud gunshot rang and a huge hole spurting blood appeared in the mutant's forehead. The feral mutant collapsed backwards and didn't get up. More shots rang out and more mutants fell dead. Kitty looked up to see Maddox abandoning his overwatch position and drawing his AK74 rifle. Coming down the slope faster than a normal human could have managed, Maddox fired 4 rounds semi auto at two mutants, taking them out of the fight before switching to full auto fire. Mutants tried to close with him, recognizing him as a primary threat but none were able to as Maddox gunned them down with burst of full auto fire.

Bobby froze himself and entered the fight, knocking mutants out with well delivered punches.

Blink gave a roundhouse kick that caught the jaw of one mutant and Kitty intercepted another coming for her, knocking him out. She nodded her thanks to Kitty but then Kitty's face grew alarmed and instantly Blink turned to find a mutant right behind her, fist turned to stone. A rock is hard, but so is metal. Piotr had come behind and slammed his fist down on the mutant's head, concussing him enough to put him out of action. Blink looked up at Piotr and smiled, and the big Russian shyness showed as he smiled, visibly apparent even in metallic form.

Soon after, the authorities arrived and placed the Brotherhood mutants under arrest. As soon as they arrived, Kitty went over to Maddox and hugged him tight.

**Back at the X-mansion**

Once the X-jet had touched down, the X-men descended down the ramp to find Professor Charles Xavier already waiting there for them.

Charles: "Good work in Philadelphia. Magneto's on the run for now at least."

Just then, a group of armed man entered the hangar with Rogue, who was bound in handcuffs.

Charles: "What is the meaning of this?"

Man: "Give us the boy Maddox."

Charles: "Release my student at once."

Man: "I'm not going to ask again. That boy is government property. Give him to us or else…."

The man placed his gun at Rogue's head. Maddox and Professor Xavier looked warily at the men. They were wearing something that made any mental connection impossible. Maddox raised his M16A4 rifle at the ready, unwilling to go back with these men.

Man: "Get here Maddox. You don't belong here."

Maddox: "I think I do little man."

Man: "You will talk to your superiors with respect! You are government property! Now come here or the girl dies."

Maddox hesitated briefly, it was unlikely that they would let Rogue go anyway, given the way they worked. Rogue didn't seem to want to be the damsel in distress, and head-butted the man's face. The minute he fell back, Rogue ran towards the group while the rest recovered from the shock of the incident. One of them raised his gun at Rogue but Maddox was faster.

Shifting his aim towards the man, he fired a single round that penetrated his forehead and exited out the back, killing him instantly. A firefight broke out between Maddox and the men sent to take him back. Maddox threw a grenade, which instantly killed three more men and the firefight became more intense.

Suddenly, more men in tactical gear came out of the entrance and surrounded the area. From behind the men came a familiar blue-furred mutant in a suit.

Hank: "This is the Secretary of Mutant Affairs. You men there, you are under arrest. Drop your weapons immediately."

"I've got news for you asshole! FBI! Stand down immediately!" the leader of the group shouted back.

None of the men Hank brought with him moved.

Man: "Are you deaf? Stand down!"

Still no one moved.

"These men aren't local police. They are a special forces unit and will answer only to the President or me for the duration of this mission. Your men outside have already been detained. Now play nice.", chuckled Hank.

The men dropped their weapons. But Maddox refused to lower his and fired at the leader. The bullet flew straight and true…..until it stopped right behind the man's head. Maddox watched on amazed as the bullet dropped to the ground before figuring out what had happened.

Charles: "They've stopped Maddox."

"I don't leave loose ends", replied Maddox.

Charles: "This is not how we work."

Maddox stared at him for a long tense moment as the Professor mentally communicated with him.

_You joined us because I told you to trust me. I'm asking you to trust me now._

Maddox was a professional black ops soldier, and everything the Professor was asking him to do now went against his very training. But then again he wasn't black ops anymore, or was he? Should he trust this man again? He looked to his right and saw Kitty looking at him intently, she didn't say anything but her eyes said it all.

_Trust him. Trust me_

Maddox looked at the Professor once again, and finally flicked the safety of his weapon to the on-position.

Kitty watched as Maddox stared at the Professor for a long moment before lowering his weapon. She let out a breath she realized that she had been holding for the duration of that moment. Hank came over and explained that Pezzini had been caught and his computer was being used to capture the rest of the people involved in the program. So it was finally over. Over for Maddox, and for her.

Kitty had always been worried about Maddox's safety if someone ever found out who he truly was, but with the Psycho Mantis program being systematically shut down, she could finally be free from all those worries. Maddox had almost made a grave mistake, confusing who he once was with who he was now. It was to be expected given his rigorous training and indoctrination, but it showed that Maddox still had a long way to go before he truly adapted to life outside of the shadowy world of black operations and intelligence.

Kitty resolved that she would be the one to bring about the turning point.

Hank led the way to the guest room, Maddox in tow with several of his own protective detail.

Hank: "First off, I and the President of the United States of America would like to sincerely apologize for the ordeal you have been put through as part of the Psycho Mantis project. I assure you that we are doing everything we can to shut it down. The President would have come down himself to talk to you personally but you must understand, he is a busy man and several issues of great import have arisen recently."

"It is alright, I understand.", replied Maddox.

Hank moved over to several large metal cases before continuing.

Hank: "From what the President and I understand, you are using a given identity and a bank account is accessible to you for your needs?"

Maddox: "Yes. The idea was that I be self sufficient and off the grid of my handlers. I would be untraceable."

Hank: "The president has decided that the account you currently now use will be legally yours, along with every single dollar it contains. Money can't bring back the life that you lost, but we hope that it will serve you well and enable you to lead a normal life. The president has also sent some gifts but there is an issue."

Maddox furrowed his eyebrows, waiting for Hank to continue.

Hank: "You currently possess certain weapons banned from civilian use, most notably your assault rifles. You are required to surrender these firearms, in return we will provide you with legal ones."

Hank proceeded to list the weapons in Maddox's inventory that he had to surrender, which he did by placing them in large empty boxes provided.

Hank: "These weapons have been signed under your name, which means that they now belong to you with the exception of the rifles which will belong to a security company front that you will be working under."

Maddox opened the boxes to find an entire stash of weapons within. If a kid had dreamed of getting an arsenal on his birthday, Maddox was now living out that dream.

There were rifles that were the exact copies of those he possessed but in legal non-fully automatic mode, handguns of various makes and even a few shotguns to boot. Maddox checked each and everyone for defects and that they matched the manifest before accepting them.

_Beretta Nano…. Check, Beretta Px4 Storm subcompact…..check, Caracal model c….check, CZ P-07….check, FN FNX 9….check, Glock 19 .40S&W…..check, Kel-Tec PF-9….check, Kriss Sphinx SDP….check, Baby Desert Eagle….check, Micro Desert Eagle…check, Lionheart LH9N….check, Ruger SR-9…check, Sig Sauer P250….check, Sig Sauer P320….check, Sig Sauer Sp2022, S&W M&P 9….check, S&W M&P Shield…check, Steyr Arms S-9A1….check, Stoger Cougar…..check, Chiappa Rhino…..check, Amercain Derringer Da-38….check, AK rifles from Poland and Bulgaria, the latter being the 74 version, Daniel Defense M4V4 SBR….check, Kel-Tec RDB….check, FN SLP shotgun….check, Kel-Tec KSG….check, Mossberg 500 Youth Model…..check, Remington 870 which is just too long…check, and Benelli Supernova Tactical shotgun….check. _

_Well…. At least I've got an armoury to take on the mad mob out there_ thought Maddox.

As soon as Hank had finished talking to Maddox and the two senior professors, Maddox left the room, only to find Kitty standing in front of his room door waiting for him. She had a serious look on her face, which told Maddox everything he needed to know for what was coming.

Kitty: "We need to talk."

Maddox let her inside and they sat down. He looked into her eyes as she stared at him and let out a long sigh.

Kitty: "Maddox. I know things have been rough for you, having to go through all that military training and then transiting to civilian life. But you have to really get used to it, not killing others if it can be helped. I know its standard procedure for black ops, but you're not black ops anymore. You're a civilian now. You have to let your old life go."

Maddox: "I'm not sure I can. Its been a part of me for as long as I can remember."

Kitty: "You can and you have to. But we are here to help you, that's what you came here for in the first place right? I am here to help you. Doesn't that count for something?"

Kitty looked desperately into his eyes, hoping to see some shimmer of hope light up within him. But none came. He still looked troubled. Wasn't she enough?

"Please.", begged Kitty once more.

Maddox looked at her again. His training was thorough, but yet he knew that he had to let his old life go. It wasn't simple, that was for sure but her plea was strong and somehow he was galvanized by her words to believe her. She was dead serious about it and truly believed that he could do it. But would her faith in him be enough? This beautiful young woman loved him, he knew that and he loved her. She was clearly willing to give her all for him, and Maddox couldn't bring himself to fail her. To believe that it was impossible was to fail her already.

Maddox nodded and Kitty immediately hugged him tight with a smile, knowing that she had done it. Maddox slowly removed her from him before planting a gentle kiss on her lips. Kitty responded by kissing him back very passionately and soon, the two were caught up in a serious make out session that kept them in Maddox's room for a very long time.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Two months later**

Kitty left the classroom, walking down the hallway to her next class at a hurried pace. As she rounded the corner, her mood brightened and a smile reached her lips. Down the hallway was Maddox on his routine rounds, walking her way. She approached him and he smiled back at her as she gave him a peck on the cheek and passed on. She and Maddox had already been dating for some time and things were already getting better. He was starting to loosen up and join in the fun of leading a normal life, well not so normal but at least it was better than his old one. He was visibly starting to warm up to others and the two had become more at ease with one another as well as more intimate at times. Where in the past the couple would turn heads wherever they were spotted, now the hype it had once brought had finally died down and the two could finally live in peace.

Kitty hoped that she could introduce him to her parents soon but they had to figure out a way to explain Maddox's past first. But that they had time for. For now, she just wanted to enjoy her life with Maddox. Maddox still had not opened up about his past before he was enlisted in the Psycho Mantis project, but Kitty never asked knowing that that particular point in his life had been when he was very young and would be painful to remember, not to mention fragmented in terms of memories. He would tell her when the time was right, if he remembered anything at all. Still, that was of little consequence to her. What was important was that they had each other and that was all that mattered.

Maddox patrolled the grounds as was his usual routine, waving at fellow guards he passed by on duty. After the strike on Magneto's camp, The Professor had settled down with Maddox to identify people, preferably with military or law enforcement backgrounds. There had been a lot to consider, such as mental state, financials and views on mutants. It had not been easy, but in the end everything had worked out and the school now had a dedicated security force. Life had returned to the school after the short security course that the force went through under Maddox's supervision, as evidenced by the bustle of students heading from one place to the next.

Under the company Mantis Private Security, Maddox headed security operations concerning the school and the Professor himself. The Professor was planning to meet officials and open dialogue that would help the mutant population gain further acceptance and protection from extremists, which would place him in very great danger. As such, Maddox took it upon himself to arrange Professor Xavier's security arrangements out of the school. He had been surprised at the Professor's insistence that he take the reins of leadership over the security force, a post he was not expecting to take given his age.

_Flashback_

_Charles: "I set up this security company Maddox, and now I want you to take over it."_

_Maddox :"Sir? There are better candidates out there who are more experienced than I am"_

"_Yes. That is true but the threats we will face soon will be unlike anything that anyone in the force has ever experienced. We will be facing death threats and attacks from anywhere and everywhere. However, these challenges will not be the kind of attacks from the disgruntled masses, they will be full on terrorist threats. As a black ops operator, you have ample knowledge of how they work and what they can do. No one in the force has that kind of experience, the enemy is not like that of the Middle-Eastern terror groups. They are one of us and not an opposing force.", replied Charles._

_Maddox stared at the professor who now turned to face him._

_Charles: "You on the other hand, were created for exactly this purpose. To find and confront the enemy within home ground, our country. That is why I'm asking you to take over."_

Maddox was now the youngest private security owner in the world, in charge of a force that had to deal with attacks against the school from forces that at the very least, were controversial to engage. The enemy was not a foreign terrorist, they were US citizens. Job aside, Maddox's life was starting to really come together. His relationship with Kitty was going strong and he had grown much fonder of the three stooges, as Kitty called them. He had generally been accepted by the rest as well, having grown closer to the newer X-men (or rookies as he jokingly called them) such as Blink, Warpath and Sunspot. While their dates were often located at school, they had taken things to the next level by going out of the school on days they didn't have lessons and Maddox had already started phasing out certain aspects of his past life that were unnecessary in his new life, as promised to Kitty. Being part of a private security company meant that he had to play the same game with a different set of rules that were more restrictive but Maddox realized with the drive to gain worldwide acceptance and peace among mutants and non-mutants alike, he couldn't play by the old rules he had been taught under the Psycho Mantis Project or simply just burn the playbook he had been given. He didn't really like it, but he didn't like upsetting Kitty more so he had accepted it. Maddox wasn't sure what the future would hold, but he was determined that Kitty would be in it together with him.

Piotr wrapped an arm around the waist of his girlfriend Clarice Fergusson, an action to which the red-haired beauty responded by leaning her head onto his shoulder. He had finally gotten his wish, with a little unasked help from the other three. After the Philadelphia raid, the X-men had resumed their security duties to cover Maddox's search and training of the new security force. During that period, Piotr was often paired with Clarice for security operations, and the two had gotten closer. Kitty, Bobby and Rogue constantly badgered him and gave advice, much to Piotr's chagrin. He still was very shy at the time until one day Rogue and Kitty had gotten so fed up that they had pushed him straight into Clarice's path one fine day. That had not been truly appreciated.

_Flashback_

_Piotr struggled to say something as the red-haired girl stared at him quizzically, waiting for him to just make a sound. Nothing came out as he stared into those dazzling green eyes. Finally after a full 3 minutes, Clarice decided that she had had enough and took the initiative. _

_Clarice: "Yes, I know you like me. I was hoping that you would be a little more adventurous but no matter, we'll fix that soon enough."_

_Piotr: "You mean….."_

"_Yes Piotr, I like you too." Said Clarice with a loud sigh. _

_As Piotr stuttered out words trying to frame a sentence, Clarice smiled and laughed at his cute reactions._

It hadn't gone as planned, but in the end everything fell into place for Piotr on that very fine day.

Bobby sat on the couch with Rogue lying down on his lap as they watched a movie. Rogue still did not have full control of her powers, limiting their physical interaction but that didn't matter to him. He loved Rogue and her alone. Rogue would often feel insecure over this but he didn't mind. He never had any issues with it to begin with, it was simply one of the intrigues of being Rogue's boyfriend. He looked down at the girl of his dreams, lost in the movie they were watching. He smiled and reached down to play a little with her hair, revealing her distinctive white parting at the front of her head before reaching for her gloved hand. They would get through this together.

**A/N: Hope you have enjoyed the story so far. This not the end of the story yet so look forward to more. I consider this the end to part 1 of my story. Part 2 will see the return of the Human Majority movement as they get more aggressive. Professor Charles Xavier has managed to recruit and get Maddox to train a security force to protect the school and its inhabitants but can he and his untested men rise up to the challenge? Kitty and Maddox take their relationship to greater heights, but will Maddox be able to pass the meet-the-parents session? Rogue and Bobby have happily made the school their home, but what happens when the past catches up to one of them? Will they pull through?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The X-men strode through the basement of the school as they headed to the danger room. Danger room sessions were extremely common but Professor Charles had promised that today's exercise would be very different.

Bobby: "Come on. What's the worst he can throw at us?"

"Don't get cocky.", replied Blink as she slunk under her boyfriend's massive frame.

Kitty: "Bobby is always like that. He gives the group the confidence they need to get it crushed later."

The others laughed at Kitty's jab at his cockiness.

Bobby: "Very funny Kitty."

As the doors to the danger room opened, they stopped laughing. Maddox was standing there, arms crossed and dressed in black tactical gear from head to toe. He looked exactly like a SWAT team officer with a balaclava and helmet in addition to the all the other paraphernalia like his bulletproof vest and boots. While the others couldn't see his face, they could tell from the movement of his balaclava that he was smiling.

"Danger room session. How hard can it be right?", asked Maddox mischievously.

Kitty was the first to catch on.

Kitty: "Wait. Maddox? Don't tell me…."

Maddox laughed maniacally and the others groaned.

Maddox: "Come on children. Lie down in a circle around me and close your eyes."

The X-men shuffled their feet to him in defeat and did as they were told. Soon the X-men found themselves in an office building that Storm recognized.

Storm: "This is where I first met you."

Maddox: "Very good Professor. Don't worry, I'm not going to unleash a mob of cannibals on you, well at least not yet."

Storm mock-glared at him and he chuckled.

Maddox: "Professor Xavier has expressed interest in a combined arms experiment where you will do your battles in dreamscape, which potentially has the power to alter the balance in our favour. But before that can happen, you must first learn how a dreamplane of existence works. Today we're going to learn several basic things, such as what you can do in a dream, basic tricks to evade or split up opponents by altering architecture."

The X-men, particularly those who tried to capture Maddox shuffled uneasily, knowing at least quite a bit of the dangers of a dream. Maddox saw this and laughed.

Maddox: "There's nothing to worry about, you are in a level 1 dreamscape. This means that you won't die for real if you die here and there will be no pain at all. If you die, you simply wake up."

The X-men breathed a little sigh of relief at that.

Maddox: "First, theory lesson. A dreamscape is not just a dream, it is an extension of one's subconscious. This means that what you usually see in someone's dream in terms of surroundings are a representation of his personality and mind. Some of those who are well-trained in dreamscape or are highly guarded people will have defensive barriers. These can come in the form of terrain, architectural mazes or as some of you have experienced, highly professional military forces. To level the playing field against a numerically superior force, there are many ways to do so. Follow me."

Maddox led the X-men to a flight of stairs and ascended up.

Maddox: "The most basic way to use architecture for such a purpose is to create a Penrose or Escharian stairwell. These two stairways are impossible staircases. Stop and take a look at the stairway."

The X-men looked around and found the staircase was a square. They had ascended and descended down it to end up where they started.

Maddox: "Assuming you are chasing me and at a distance, I can continue up while closing the loop like this, preventing you from pursuing me."

Maddox walked to the opposite end and opened the loop at where he was standing and continued up the staircase, closing the loop behind him.

"Now you have no way of catching me up this staircase and have to find another way around.", shouted Maddox from above before coming back down.

Blink :"Wait. You're the dreamwalker so that means you will have to be the one who draws us into a dream right? So how can we do these things? You're the one with the ability and its your dream."

Maddox: "Very good. There are several explanations for this. Even if you are in a dreamscape that is completely my own, you can still exert some limited control over it if your mental barriers and strength are strong enough. If you are in an amalgam of several people's dreamscapes or dreams, it will be much easier since part of the dreamscape is your own subconscious. Since none of you are dreamwalkers, the last scenario is impossible which is you are the one to create the dream and thus have full control. Still even if you have full control, if your opponent knows how to use a dreamscape, he can overpower you."

Storm: "So how do we create these impossible staircases?"

Maddox :"Just think and focus on it. But don't close your eyes to do it. You should practice doing it using your mind while continuing your actions such as walking."

Each of them tried it and to Maddox's surprise succeeded. This might not be as difficult as he thought it would be after all.

Maddox: "Very good. This one here is the Penrose stairway. You actually just need to know what a Escharian stairway looks like and envision it. The architecture will then be formed at your will. I will teach you to create about 3 of these staircases at once next time. Any more will be impossible for non-dreamwalkers. Now watch as I create an Escharian stairway."

Maddox willed an Escharian stairway into existence on the other side of the building for them to see.

The group descended the stairway back to the ground level.

"That is what an Escharian stairway looks like, these two stairways can be combined or used separately in numbers to confuse an opponent. Watch.", said Maddox as he created more Escharian and Penrose steps throughout the building walls and levels.

Maddox: "Now try going up the different staircases and see if you can get to the top."

The X-men tried and ascended up the building using the normal stairways, but once they hit Maddox's stairwells, they found themselves emerging at different places or levels that should have been impossible. On occasion, the X-men would even take two separate staircases and end up colliding into one another as they tried to ascend.

Maddox: "Architectural mazes are created the same way, pretty much everything is but this requires a bit more detailed thinking to get what you want and more effort. You'll learn how to create 3 stairways at once first before learning to create a maze. The other trick I'm teaching you today is something like teleportation, except that you use doors."

Maddox led them down to the end of the building and entered a door which led to a hallway filled with doors.

Maddox:" Piotr should know this trick very well. Each of you take a door and enter."

"You're going to get it from me if I fall off a staircase again.", Piotr grinned playfully.

Maddox just laughed as the X-men did as he asked and found themselves exiting through other doors in the hallway, which in real life would not have been possible.

"This is one trick you can use to confuse your enemies. You can create many false doors and one true door which you use. After you pass through, you can actually cut the connection between where you are and the door you came from.", said Maddox.

Piotr: "Wait, then why were me and the Professor able to progress?"

Maddox laughed before replying.

Maddox: "That's because I let you progress. If I had simply cut off the connection, Professor Xavier would simply alter the layout himself to end up at my location, the fact that he was a telepath who could almost always tell wherever I was and had substantial knowledge of how a dreamscape worked didn't help me. Therefore I allowed you to progress albeit slowly so that Professor Xavier would not do such a thing as a last resort, thereby buying myself time. A dreamwalker's worst external nightmare is a telepath, because their powers are mental, there is no way for a dreamwalker to negate their powers in a dream unless the telepath is an extremely weak one, which is almost impossible."

Warpath: "Is it possible to create a maze and place such doors within?"

Maddox: "Yes it is possible, but a large complicated one will be too much for you to handle."

Sunspot: "Come on, Maddox. Don't look down on us."

Maddox just closed his eyes shook his head gravelly.

Maddox: "If we were ever to do this in an operation, we would have to do it at higher levels of dreamscapes. As you probably already know, the higher the level the more realistic it is. Death at higher levels results in real deaths. If you had to create something like that on a mission, you would do so at higher levels under a lot of adrenalin and stress. The higher the level, the more difficult it is to create even a simple flight of Penrose steps, not to mention with all the adrenalin and stress from the mission. If you try to create a large maze for example or a lot of impossible staircases, it will be too much for your brain functions in REM sleep to handle. You would overload and fry your brains, leaving you a vegetable and stuck in a dreamscape that is very difficult to escape from."

The X-men kept silent as the implications settled on them. While they could exert control in a dream, the reality was that it was limited and as such many techniques that Maddox could perform were beyond their abilities. Plus if they did it wrong. They could end up dead or comatose.

Maddox: "Which brings me to another theory lesson. If you are wounded in a dreamscape and pass out on the verge of death, you will enter another dreamscape known as limbo. Basically it's a dreamscape within a dreamscape that you become trapped in and its almost impossible to escape from. Time in limbo is immaterial and while you may die pretty fast after you pass out, it may seem like forever in limbo. Think of it as a dreamscape's version of the Catholic Purgatory doctrine on fast forward."

Bobby: "Moral of the story, don't die in a dream."

Maddox: "That pretty much sums it up."

The group exited back out and walked back to a spot near the customer service counter.

Maddox: "If you haven't noticed already, there are office people around. They aren't real and are what we call projections. They are simply small fragments of one's mind given form, in this case office people which I created here. However, even for a dreamwalker, there are unintended projections that result when a dreamscape is entered into. These projections can be hostile to everyone, including the creator of the dream and are mostly one's fear or mental defenses in the subconscious that are so latent that they cannot be controlled. The higher the dreamscape level, the more you will encounter these projections and they will be more deadly and insidious."

Piotr: "They are based on our fear or mental defenses?"

Maddox: "Yes. Small fragments take up the form of beings, be they human or creatures according to your imagination. They are generally easy to deal with even by the most inadept person as they can be killed by physical force. The problem comes when they are in disguise or when they come in large numbers. As you enter higher tiers of dreamscapes, these projections may not be as straightforward as they are on the lower tiers. For example, you are on the run and find two people promising to lead you to safety. One looks like a psychotic ghost while the other is a friendly child, which will you take naturally speaking?"

Warpath: "The child."

Maddox: "Correct. But as I said earlier, these projections become more insidious as you ascend the tiers, some of them borne out of one's latent malice instead of fear. This child may actually mean you harm and lead you to your death while the ghost leads you to safety. Moral of the story, don't believe everything you see in a dream."

Kitty: "How do we tell who's the bad guy when we meet people?"

Maddox: "You can't. A lot of depends on gut and intuition, which isn't a lot to go by. If you are a psychologist, some profiling techniques might help but generally its very hard."

Rogue: "That's not very helpful."

Maddox shuffled uneasily for several long moments, something Kitty, Storm and Blink noticed.

Kitty: "Maddox? What's wrong?"

Maddox: "There are….. other kinds of projections that everyone including dreamwalkers have to worry about. They appear on the higher tiers, particularly on what we call the extreme tiers depending on one's psyche. You will be most unfortunate if you ever encounter them."

Again, the silence and hesitation.

Storm: "Maddox. Is there something you need to tell us or want to share?"

Maddox looked at her uneasily before looking at the ground again.

Blink: "Maddox. Its ok. You can tell us."

Maddox contemplated for a while. He had grown particularly close to Clarice, often spending time with her when their respective other halves were absent. They had confided in each other several times over concerns or just simply had fun, but could he tell them something so complicated now? He took a deep breath and looked over to Kitty and back at Blink, both of whom were very concerned, knowing that something was wrong.

Kitty: "Maddox. Its ok."

Maddox waited a while more before he finally spoke up.

Maddox: "These projections are not small fragments. They are big enough to form a conscious of their own. They can be borne of one's latent malice, they can be one's fear as a whole or as a significant part of one's fear given form, they can be one's guilt given form be it overall or over a certain incident or they can be a hidden alternate personality waiting in the shadows to strike and take control. The longer one's stays in a dream, especially at higher tiers of dreams, the more likely one will encounter these projections. From the time one enters a dream, its only a matter of time and the question is just simply when you will see them. The time limit is academic and depends on one's psyche, mental defenses, guilt and so on so there's no way to tell exactly when you'll see them."

The X-men kept silent as Maddox continued.

Maddox: "Everyone has a certain amount of malice within them, no matter how docile they may seem. Everyone has a fear of something, no matter how brave they are and for those who bear guilt, it is even worse. Those who are guilt-stricken often find the object of their guilt appearing before them. For example, if someone lost his mother and felt that it was his fault somehow, that person may see his own mother alive. That mother of his is his guilt given form and will simply appear at a distance at first, but over time as the person's mental shield breaks down, his mother will appear more frequently at a much closer distance. That projection will then proceed to talk to the person, whose mental defenses will break down even more, becoming more susceptible to attack. The person may even be convinced to take his own life if his guilt projection asks him to. For alternate personalities, the projections are the alternate personality given form and are not exactly part of or a fragment of the person since an alternate personality is a different person in the same body. This means that while it can take form and harangue the main personality, its reactions may be different from what you would expect out of oneself because he is separate from the main personality. However, since an alternate personality is another person, it can exert just as much control as a normal person in a dream so it can perform the same tricks as you if not more since it has been recessed in there."

Sunspot: "Have you ever encountered such projections before?"

Maddox looked at her and then turned to face the entrance of the office building.

Maddox :"Lesson 1 is over. That's all for today."

With that, Maddox released the X-men from the dream.

Kitty awoke with a start to a bright light, instinctively covering her face with her hand before getting up. The X-men were back in the danger room in a circle around Maddox. She watched as her boyfriend got up and left the room in a hurry. Something had happened, but what was it? A memory? Kitty got up in pursuit of her boyfriend, followed by the three stooges and Blink. They followed Maddox and once they were well away from the danger room, she grabbed him into the nearest room.

kItty: "Maddox. What is it that you're hiding from us?"

Maddox looked at her but kept silent.

Blink :"Maddox. If we're going to head into the dangers of a dreamscape with you, you're going to have to tell us. We deserve that much."

Maddox sighed as he stared at the ground.

Maddox :" Before I was taken into the program, I lost my family to a car accident. I had long been identified as a mutant long before that by the military, who kept tabs on my family since he was a high ranking military man. After they died, I was inducted or rather, abducted into the Psycho Mantis program. Two years after the incident, I was sent on a training exercise to test how effective I was at extreme tiers of dreamscape. During the exercise, I saw my mother very frequently. I missed her so much that my subconscious showed her to me. I dismissed her as a mere projection and continued with the training. However as I carried on, sightings of her became more frequent, and each time she was appearing closer than before. Soon enough, I started hearing her call my name, sometimes when there was no sign of her. When she finally came face-to-face with me, it was only then I discovered what she truly was, she was my greatest wish at the time made manifest. She asked me to join her, but I refused. It was then that the exercise was called to an end, but I found myself unable to exit the dream. She wouldn't let me. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how much stimulants were pumped into me to wake up, I just couldn't. As I continued to refuse her pleas to join her, she suddenly tried to force me off a building. I ran, using every technique I knew, but it was no use. That projection was a substantial part of me, meaning that there was nowhere to hide from it. Every time I did something like create false doors, she would appear right where I was after I passed through a true door. I ran from one of a dream to another, from one dreamplane to another as I sought a way to escape down to the lower tiers. On many occasions, I simply ripped a hole in a dream to pass into another, a very unsafe way compared to mentally transferring oneself to another dreamplane. It was the only way I could keep her behind me, but she would still be almost just right behind me. This continued for 4 days until finally I found my way to a lower tier and disconnected from the dream."

Kitty was stunned. He, the undisputed master of dreams, had been trapped in one for days by the source of his own desire. Maddox had been almost killed by his own mother or more accurately, himself. It had to have been traumatic for him to see his mother like that. She walked over to him and pulled his head into an embrace, hugging him close.

Bobby: "I don't mean to pry but have you spotted her since?"

Maddox: "No. it was the only encounter I ever had."

Rogue :"But that means that you probably won't see her ever again right?"

An eerie silence followed.

Kitty: "You believe you'll see her again?"

Maddox: "I don't know. Extreme tier dreamscapes are extremely treacherous and can turn on their creator anytime and in any way. They are extremely unpredictable."

Kitty continued to hold him close and kiss the top of his head, doing her best to comfort him as the others watched on.

Kitty walked Maddox to his room to rest. He clearly was very shaken by the memory of being haunted by his mother in a dream. Once they were inside, Kitty set him down on the bed and lay down beside him.

Its ok. I'm here.", said Kitty as she stroked his cheek with her right hand.

Maddox: "Can you stay for a while please?"

Kitty smiled and nodded. Maddox never asked anything like that before, so if he did then really needed her around.

Maddox: "I just wish I could see them again."

Kitty hugged him close and kissed him gently, letting him know that she was here for him. Soon enough she started an intense and rough makeout session, one that would help him loosen up. A few hours later, Maddox was much better and ready to return to his duties. He gave his disheveled girlfriend who was fixing herself one last kiss before leaving the room with her and parting ways.

**A/N: You may have noticed that many concepts, words and ideas are from Inception but this is by no means a crossover. I do not take credit for anything from inception either, but I am unable to find different ways or words to explain so Inception was taken as a guideline. **

**The X-men are finally learning the ropes of Maddox's personal playground. Can they learn enough? Dark challenges face Maddox and the X-men ahead, can they pull through? The story will focus a lot more on Maddox now as he struggles to keep the school safe in his new position as head of the security force. The X-men will continue to play their part as well but some will face challenges they didn't expect to face. Stay tuned to see what the future holds in store for Charles Xavier's band of merry mutants and guards.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chap 13**

Maddox stood at attention at the gate with several other guards on duty. Today was his turn to be the guard commander at the gate, looking out for suspicious persons or vehicles. The men on duty were all clad in the same Mantis Security uniform complete with bulletproof vest, balaclava and service cap. While Maddox had wanted security personnel to be clad in full tactical gear for maximum protection, but the Professor had insisted that minimal gear be worn as he did not want to cause a mass panic among parents. Their armament was also limited to a service handgun and a backup one.

As the day passed on into the afternoon, a delivery bike appeared along the road and immediately Maddox alerted the rest by radio, released the hood lock of his holster and placed his hand on the pommel of his Lionheart LH9N service weapon.

One of the troopers waved at the bike to stop at the corner of the road and Maddox approached the vehicle.

Maddox: "Good afternoon sir, What brings you here to the school?"

Delivery man: "Delivery for the school. What's going on? Who are you guys?"

Maddox:" Not to worry sir, We're just the school security. I'll sign out for the delivery if that's alright with you?"

Delivery man: "That would be fine sir."

Maddox took over the deliveries and had one of his men bring them to the administration department run by off-duty men. They would check items in cheap but effective forensic glove box for any death threats or even biological or chemical contaminants meant to kill the intended recipient. With the threat allegedly posed by the Human Majority Movement, Maddox was taking no chances.

An uninteresting hour later, radio chatter filtered in through his earpiece. It was a message for him from his second in command, Brandon.

Brandon: "Maddox. None of the letters had any contaminants, but several of them were death threats. You better take a look at them."

It was 8pm, and here the X-men were in the Professor's room. After Professor Xavier had received news of the death threats, he had called a meeting of the X-men and Maddox himself to discuss the matter.

"We can't give in to them. That will hurt our cause and they'll just go for more.", said Storm in reference to a death threat by an anonymous person or organization to shutdown the school.

Professor Xavier: "I agree, but its still not going to up the security level into the red just yet Maddox, so stay put for now."

Maddox sighed in defeat. He had tried to pressure the Professor into letting he and his men up the security level significantly. That would have allowed his men to be fully equipped and armed but Professor Xavier had refused outright reasoning that it would show fear at the slightest intimidation. Kitty patted her boyfriend's back in sympathy and chuckled a little seeing her boyfriend so resigned.

Bobby: "What are you going to do about the meeting with the Secretary of State Professor? They've threatened you over that too."

Professor Xavier had requested a meeting that was widely publicized with the Secretary of State over mutant affairs just before the next congressional session. Some of the anti-mutant camp had evidently been upset over the move to push for mutant rights.

Charles: "I'm not going to cancel it Bobby, and I'm confident that Maddox's men will protect me."

Maddox: "You'll be going out into the open Professor, which is going to make you very vulnerable. I'm definitely raising the threat profile for that trip. We'll be fully equipped and armed for it, and I am not going to let you object over this one."

Professor Xavier laughed slightly at that, deciding that he would let Maddox have his way with that one.

Kitty :"We should be more careful. We're definitely not going to give in to them and they may follow through with their threats."

Maddox: "Already done on my end Kitty. I've alerted the rest of the company so they'll be on guard even more. All of them have orders to shoot armed intruders on sight."

After the meeting, Maddox left and walked down the hallway to the elevator leading to the basement. A Mantis guard stood by the door at attention, giving a nod to him with a perceptible sir as he passed by into the lift. Once the lift doors opened, Maddox strode out into the basement of the school. Once the eerily silent and deserted hallways which housed the X-men's equipment, the basement was now showing signs of life as the Mantis Security personnel went about their duties. Guards stood at their posts at points or doors of the hallway, while others carried sheets of paper heading from one office to another. Mantis Security had taken several rooms for use as their headquarters, administrative office, armskote, apothecary, canteen, barracks and the school's operations centre, which oversaw all security operations through cameras and radio traffic. While that meant they occupied a significant amount of rooms, the fact that there were so few X-men meant that many of the rooms were redundant anyway. Maddox walked over to the entrance of the operations centre, watched over by two guards at the door. The men greeted him and he greeted them in return before entering the heart of the security force. Once a storage room that housed a lot of stuff that was for all intents and purposes useless, the room was now filled with computers and screens on tables and on the walls and in the basin at the centre of the room.

Every sensor and camera in the school grounds was connected to this room, meaning that all sensor detections and camera feeds would come to this command centre. Maddox went over to consult the watch commander for the day for any updates on the situation.

Once he was sure that everything was fine, Maddox left and headed to his own office. Since he became the leader and secretly the owner of the security company (Professor Xavier owned it on paper until he was educated enough), he not only had to deal with running security operations but had to deal with many administrative matters as well. Professor Xavier handled most of the financial stuff but Maddox had to handle all the operational administration along with other matters. It was an unenviable task which would only be made worse when he got older and completely took over the reins. Maddox was already in talks to expand the force to take on contracts outside the school. With Federal and state budgets in decline, it was a ripe time for private security companies and taking contracts outside the school would mean that money would be flowing into the company instead of just money being pumped into it. That would at the very least ease the school's finances or if they were somehow very successful, they would earn a profit for the company and the school. However, these plans had been put on hold as a result of the threat to the school, which was more important. Rubbing his balaclava-clad face with his palms, Maddox groaned and continued his grueling paperwork.

Kitty Pryde sat by a chair watching the hallway which ran adjacent to hers, where people exiting the elevator would pass by. It had been over 2 hours since Maddox went down and she was still waiting here, bored to death. She was hoping that she could catch a late-night movie with Maddox since it was Saturday tomorrow. Just then, Maddox walked pass her and she smiled as she got off her chair. Creeping up behind him, Kitty then suddenly jumped onto his back, taking Maddox by surprise.

Kitty: "Finally you're out! As your punishment you have to carry me back to my room."

"Seriously Kitty?", laughed Maddox as he carried her back to her room.

Once inside, Maddox set her down on the bed and sat beside her.

Kitty: "Stay with me tonight. We'll watch a movie together."

Maddox :"Sounds like a good idea. What do you want to watch?"

Kitty thought for a moment as she went through her DVD collection.

Kitty: "This one."

Kitty popped it into her computer and sat down in front of it, Maddox by her side. They had never watched a late night movie together before. So this should be interesting. Maddox looked over to his girlfriend and gave her a kiss on her cheek before returning his attention to the movie with her.

Maddox woke up staring at the ceiling of his room. He would probably have to move downstairs to the basement like every other person in the company but there was no pressure on him to move. Turning his head to the right, he came face to face with his sleeping beauty and smiled. After finishing the movie, she had almost instantly fallen asleep and Maddox had carried her to the bed and fallen asleep beside her. Gently rolling to face her, he gingerly brought her head into the crook of his neck and lay there with her. The move evidently woke her up, as she suddenly nuzzled herself against his neck and then pushed herself upward to face him.

Kitty: "Morning."

Maddox: "Good morning Kitty. Sorry I woke you up."

Kitty :"Its ok. Its about time I got up anyway.

Kitty kissed her boyfriend and then got off the bed towards the door. But Maddox's hand shot out and grabbed Kitty's arm in an attempt to stop her from leaving.

Maddox: "Aren't you going to stay for a while?"

Kitty: "Oh no. My boyfriend only has a few hours to study and get his work done on Saturday. Don't be lazy."

With that Kitty closed the door and left the room snickering, leaving Maddox smiling sheepishly at the ground.


End file.
